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

Plastic nanoparticles affect behavior and fat metabolism in fish

2012-02-23
(Press-News.org) Nanoparticles have many useful applications, but also raise some potential health and ecological concerns. Now, new research shows that plastic nanoparticles are transported through the aquatic food chain and affect fish metabolism and behavior. The full report is published Feb. 22 in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

Exposing fish to nanoparticles slowed their feeding behavior, and also affected metabolic parameters including weight loss and cholesterol levels and distribution. The authors, led by Tommy Cedervall, Lars-Anders Hansson and Sara Linse of Lund University in Sweden, suggest that their results could be useful for developing assays to test for nanoparticles and investigate potential biological risks associated with them.

###Citation: Cedervall T, Hansson L-A, Lard M, Frohm B, Linse S (2012) Food Chain Transport of Nanoparticles Affects Behaviour and Fat Metabolism in Fish. PLoS ONE 7(12): e32254. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032254

Financial Disclosure: This work was supported by Nano Vaccin Centre (Copenhagen), the Crafoord Foundation (Lund), Swedish Government to the Nanometer StructureConsortium (Lund), and the Swedish Research Council, VR. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

PLEASE LINK TO THE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (URL goes live after the embargo ends): http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032254


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Ancient rock art found in Brazil

2012-02-23
Researchers have discovered an extremely old anthropomorphic figure engraved in rock in Brazil, according to a report published Feb. 22 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. The petroglyph, which dates to between 9,000 and 12,000 years old, is the oldest reliably dated instance of such rock art yet found in the Americas. Art from this time period in the New World is quite rare, so little is known about the diversity of symbolic thinking of the early American settlers. The authors of this study, led by Walter Neves of the University of Sao Paulo, write that their findings ...

Circadian rhythms linked to sudden cardiac death, study finds

2012-02-23
A fundamental discovery reported in the March 1st issue of the journal Nature, uncovers the first molecular evidence linking the body's natural circadian rhythms to sudden cardiac death (SCD). Ventricular arrhythmias, or abnormal heart rhythms, are the most common cause of sudden cardiac death: the primary cause of death from heart disease. They occur most frequently in the morning waking hours, followed by a smaller peak in the evening hours. While scientists have observed this tendency for many years, prior to this breakthrough, the molecular basis for these daily patterns ...

Ads Aim to Decrease Florida Pedestrian and Cyclist Fatalities

2012-02-23
Florida is the deadliest state in the nation for pedestrians and is extremely dangerous for cyclists, according to a national study in USA Today. The Miami area is especially prone to many of the accidents and injuries associated with high density pedestrian, cyclist and motorist traffic. The Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) is bringing awareness and a sense of urgency to the issue through its new public bicycle and pedestrian accident campaign. Important Statistics Regarding Cyclist and Pedestrian Injuries and Fatalities According to a national study ...

The heart beats to the rhythm of a circadian clock

2012-02-23
HOUSTON -- (Feb. 23, 2012) – Sudden cardiac death –catastrophic and unexpected fatal heart stoppage – is more likely to occur shortly after waking in the morning and in the late night. In a report in the journal Nature (http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html), an international consortium of researchers that includes Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (http://casemed.case.edu/) in Cleveland and Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) explains the molecular linkage between the circadian clock and the deadly heart rhythms that lead to sudden death. The ...

Cancer discovery shows promise of new drugs

Cancer discovery shows promise of new drugs
2012-02-23
Uncovering the network of genes regulated by a crucial molecule involved in cancer called mTOR, which controls protein production inside cells, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have discovered how a protein "master regulator" goes awry, leading to metastasis, the fatal step of cancer. Their work also pinpoints why past drugs that target mTOR have failed in clinical trials, and suggests that a new class of drugs now in trials may be more effective for the lethal form of prostate cancer for which presently there is no cure. Described this ...

Researchers: Prevalence of improper condom use a public health issue worldwide

2012-02-23
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Problems with the correct use of the male condom, such as not wearing a condom throughout sex or putting it on upside down, are common in the U.S. and have become a major concern of public health officials. New research shows that countries around the world are facing similar challenges. An unprecedented collection of condom use studies, published in the journal Sexual Health, provides a global perspective on condom use problems and errors, along with new research on factors influencing correct condom use, how condom use programs can be more effective, ...

New nanotechnology converts heat into power when it's needed most

New nanotechnology converts heat into power when its needed most
2012-02-23
Never get stranded with a dead cell phone again. A promising new technology called Power Felt, a thermoelectric device that converts body heat into an electrical current, soon could create enough juice to make another call simply by touching it. Developed by researchers in the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials at Wake Forest University, Power Felt is comprised of tiny carbon nanotubes locked up in flexible plastic fibers and made to feel like fabric. The technology uses temperature differences – room temperature versus body temperature, for instance – ...

California's Third-Strike DUI Law Keeps Repeat DUI Offenders Off the Road for a Decade

2012-02-23
A newly passed broadening of California's third-strike law has the legal authority to keep repeat DUI offenders -- those who have three or more DUI offenses in a ten-year period -- off the road for up to a decade. The law now grants judges the authority to revoke the driving privileges of a person convicted of three or more DUI or alcohol-related offenses in a 10-year period. Some lawmakers -- including California state assemblyman Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), who authored the bill that was passed into law -- support this measure and think that it could possibly keep up ...

Federal agencies must protect America's Pacific Island monuments from illegal fishing now

2012-02-23
Washington, DC (February 22, 2012) – Today, Marine Conservation Institute filed a formal petition to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce, asking them to prohibit commercial fishing in America's sensitive and pristine Pacific Island marine national monuments, a ban that President George W. Bush declared when he established the monuments over three years ago. In January 2009, President Bush established three marine monuments in the central Pacific and prohibited commercial fishing in them because they are incredibly rich marine ecosystems that ...

Research offers way to save endangered Florida bird, and a lesson for conservationists

2012-02-23
ITHACA, N.Y. – A team of researchers has found a key to the habitat puzzle for improving long-term survival of the endangered Florida Scrub-Jay. New research published online today in The Royal Society's journal Biology Letters shows that "clustered habitat networks" are needed to maintain the genetic diversity of Florida Scrub-Jays, a species at risk of extinction with just more than 5,000 birds left in the world. The new research reveals, for the first time, a direct connection between genetic variation of Florida Scrub-Jay groups and geographic distances separating ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

With no prior training, dogs can infer how similar types of toys work, even when they don’t look alike

Three deadliest risk factors of a common liver disease identified in new study

Dogs can extend word meanings to new objects based on function, not appearance

Palaeontology: South American amber deposit ‘abuzz’ with ancient insects

Oral microbes linked to increased risk of pancreatic cancer

Soccer heading does most damage to brain area critical for cognition

US faces rising death toll from wildfire smoke, study finds

Scenario projections of COVID-19 burden in the US, 2024-2025

Disparities by race and ethnicity in percutaneous coronary intervention

Glioblastoma cells “unstick” from their neighbors to become more deadly

Oral bacterial and fungal microbiome and subsequent risk for pancreatic cancer

New light on toxicity of Bluefin tuna

Menopause drug reduces hot flashes by more than 70%, international clinical trial finds

FGF21 muscle hormone associated with slow ALS progression and extended survival

Hitting the right note: The healing power of music therapy in the cardiac ICU

Cardiovascular disease risk rises in Mexico, despite improved cholesterol control

Flexible optical touch sensor simultaneously pinpoints pressure strength and location

Achalasia diagnosis simplified to AI plus X-ray

PolyU scholars pioneer smart and sustainable personal cooling technologies to address global extreme heat

NIH grant aims for childhood vaccine against HIV

Menstrual cycle and long COVID: A relation confirmed

WMO report on global water resources: 2024 was characterized by both extreme drought and intense rainfall

New findings explain how a mutation in a cancer-related gen causes pulmonary fibrosis

Thermal trigger

SNU materials science and engineering team identifies reconstruction mechanism of copper alloy catalysts for CO₂ conversion

New book challenges misconceptions about evolution and our place in the tree of life

Decoding a decade of grouper grunts unlocks spawning secrets, shifts

Smart robots revolutionize structural health monitoring

Serum-derived hsa_circ_101555 as a diagnostic biomarker in non-hepatocellular carcinoma chronic liver disease

Korea University study identifies age 70 as cutoff for chemotherapy benefit in colorectal cancer

[Press-News.org] Plastic nanoparticles affect behavior and fat metabolism in fish