Rivers are lifelines for many countries. They create valuable ecosystems, provide drinking water for people and raw water for agriculture and industry. In the Global South in particular, there is strong competition for access to freshwater resources. The increasing use of hydropower has recently intensified this competition further. Take Ethiopia, for example: when the country began filling the mega-?dam Gibe III on the Omo River in 2015, downstream users saw a drop in water volumes. Natural flooding declined, reducing the volume of fertile mud washed onto the floodplain. The level of Kenya's Lake Turkana, into which the Omo flows, fell temporarily by two metres, resulting in significant consequences for people and agriculture. Addressing ...

Scientists have identified five new plant species in the Bolivian Andes. The species are all part of the genus Jacquemontia, which are twining or trailing plants with pretty blue flowers. With rapid biodiversity loss taking place across South America and worldwide, identifying plant species is a vital step towards protecting them. The new study, which classifies and describes the 28 Jacquemontia species now known to live in Bolivia and Peru, was carried out by the universities of Exeter and Oxford, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. "Many plant species have not been identified and classified, especially in the tropics," said Rosie Clegg, of the University of Exeter and Kew. "If you don't know what a species is, you can't ...

Most children with a mental health disorder are not receiving services to address their needs--according to a new study from researchers at Simon Fraser University's Children's Health Policy Centre. Their research was published this week in the journal Evidence-Based Mental Health. Researchers found that of the one in eight children (12.7 per cent) who experience a mental disorder, less than half (44.2 per cent) receive any services for these conditions. "We have illuminated an invisible crisis in children's mental health and unacceptable service shortfalls in high-income countries -- including in Canada -- to a degree that violates children's rights," says study author Charlotte Waddell, ...

After gaining world attention by 'unboiling' egg protein, Flinders University scientists have now used an Australian-made novel thin film microfluidic device to manipulate Beta-lactoglobulin (β-lactoglobulin), the major whey protein in cow's, sheep's and other mammals. The so-called Vortex Fluidic Device has previously been used in an array of experiments to successfully 'un-boil' egg protein and even break the molecular bonds of one of the world's hardest material, carbon nanotubes. In the latest application, published in Molecules, College of Science and Engineering experts have combined the capabilities of the VFD with a new form of biosensor called TPE-MI, which is an aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen). "In the human body, protein folding is ...

The human body is essentially made up of trillions of living cells. It ages as its cells age, which happens when those cells eventually stop replicating and dividing. Scientists have long known that genes influence how cells age and how long humans live, but how that works exactly remains unclear. Findings from a new study led by researchers at Washington State University have solved a small piece of that puzzle, bringing scientists one step closer to solving the mystery of aging. A research team headed by Jiyue Zhu, a professor in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, recently identified a DNA region known as VNTR2-1 that appears to drive the activity of the telomerase gene, which has been shown to prevent ...

Almost all crop plants form associations with a particular type of fungi - called arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi - in the soil, which greatly expand their root surface area. This mutually beneficial interaction boosts the plant's ability to take up nutrients that are vital for growth. The more nutrients plants obtain naturally, the less artificial fertilisers are needed. Understanding this natural process, as the first step towards potentially enhancing it, is an ongoing research challenge. Progress is likely to pay huge dividends for agricultural productivity. In a study published in the journal PLOS Biology, researchers used the bright red pigments of beetroot - called betalains - to visually track soil fungi as they colonised plant roots in a living plant. "We can now ...

Many disease-causing bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa crawl on surfaces through a walk-like motility known as "twitching". Nanometers-wide filaments called type IV pili are known to power twitching, but scientists ignore which sensory signals coordinate the microbes' movements. Now, EPFL researchers have found that Pseudomonas bacteria use a mechanism similar to our sense of touch to navigate on surfaces. "This study changes the way we think about motility in bacteria," says senior author Alexandre Persat, a tenure track assistant professor at EPFL's School of Life Sciences. Scientists have known that ...

Oncotarget published "Role for Fgr and Numb in retinoic acid-induced differentiation and G0 arrest of non-APL AML cells" which reported that retinoic acid is a fundamental regulator of cell cycle and cell differentiation. Using a leukemic patient-derived in vitro model of a non-APL AML, these authors previously found that RA evokes activation of a macromolecular signaling complex, a signalosome, built of numerous MAPK-pathway-related signaling molecules; and this signaling enabled Retinoic-Acid-Response-Elements to regulate gene expression that results in cell differentiation/cell cycle arrest. Toward mechanistic ...

Researchers from George Mason University, University of Manitoba, Colorado State University, and Georgetown University published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines an unintended customer consequence of lobbying, decreased customer satisfaction, and also explains marketing-focused efforts that can help prevent it. The study, forthcoming in the the Journal of Marketing, is titled "Shedding Light on the Dark Side of Firm Lobbying: A Customer Perspective" and is authored by Gautham Vadakkepatt, Sandeep Arora, Kelly Martin, and Neeru Paharia. Lobbying, ...

A network of over 100 herbaria spread out across the southeastern United States recently completed the herculean task of fully digitizing more than three million specimens collected by botanists and naturalists over a span of 200 years. The project, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, is part of a larger, ongoing effort by natural history institutions worldwide to make their biological collections easily accessible to researchers studying broad patterns of evolution, extinction, range shifts, and climate change. In a END ...

A team at the Natural History Museum (NHM), London is paving the way for future rovers to search for meteorites on Mars. The scientists are using the NHM's extensive meteorite collection to test the spectral instruments destined for the ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin, and develop tools to identify meteorites on the surface of the red planet. The project is being presented today (23 July) at the virtual National Astronomy Meeting 2021. The cratered surface of our nearest planetary neighbour has a long and complex history, and searching for rocks amidst more rocks may seem like a futile activity. Despite this, Martian rovers statistically have a significantly higher 'find per mile' success rate than dedicated meteorite hunts on ...

The first clinical trial of a new dietary treatment for children and adults with severe forms of epilepsy, co-developed by UCL researchers and based on the ketogenic diet, has been successfully completed. For the study, published in Brain Communications, clinicians evaluated the use of K.Vita®, (also known as Betashot), an oral liquid dietary supplement developed by UCL in collaboration with Royal Holloway, University of London, and Vitaflo International Ltd. The ketogenic diet (KD) consists of high-fat, low-carbohydrate and adequate protein consumption and mimics the fasting state, altering the metabolism to use body fat as the primary fuel source. This switch from carbohydrates to fat for body ...

A dust storm that engulfed Mars in 2018 destroyed a vortex of cold air around the planet's south pole and brought an early spring to the hemisphere. By contrast, the storm caused only minor distortions to the polar vortex in the northern hemisphere and no dramatic seasonal changes. Dr Paul Streeter of The Open University's Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics will present the work today (23 July) at the virtual National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2021). Over two weeks at the beginning of June 2018, localised dust storms combined and spread to form an impenetrable blanket of dust that hid almost the entire planet's surface. The global dust storm, ...

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina--Researchers at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center demonstrated in a clinical trial in Malawi that a five-drug combination chemotherapy provided curative benefit compared to current standard-of care-therapy in people diagnosed with lymphoma, and now they have determined this option is also cost-effective. The economic finding appeared July 22, 2021, in Lancet Global Health. The clinical trial results, reported May 19, 2021, in Lancet Global Health involved 37 people with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). ...

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina--A new study has demonstrated that patients with advanced bladder cancers whose tumors have a mutated FGFR3 gene respond to immunotherapy treatment in a manner that is similar to patients without that mutation, a discovery that runs counter to previous assumptions. This research, led by scientists at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, has important implications for patients who have not been offered immunotherapy because of their genetic profiles. The findings are published in the British Journal of Cancer. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 83,730 people in the United States will be diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2021, and the disease will cause 17,200 deaths. While the cancer ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A new study by Fergus Couch, Ph.D., of Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, along with collaborators from the CARRIERS consortium, suggests that most women with breast cancer diagnosed over 65 should be offered hereditary cancer genetic testing. The study was published Thursday, July 22, in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Couch says that women over 65 rarely qualify for hereditary cancer genetic testing based on current testing guidelines because they are thought to exhibit low rates of genetic mutations in breast cancer genes. "Most studies of breast cancer genes have not looked at older women, those who were diagnosed over the age of 65," says Dr. Couch. He says these studies have mainly tested women with a strong family history of breast ...

- Data show dose-responsive, non-saturated increases in gastrointestinal consumption of Phe in humans by SYNB1618 - - SYNB1618 Phase 2 study in patients with PKU ongoing with proof-of-concept readout anticipated in 2H 2021 - - Phase 1 study of SYNB1934, an evolved strain of SYNB1618 in the PKU portfolio, initiated - CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Synlogic, Inc. (Nasdaq: SYBX), a clinical stage company bringing the transformative potential of synthetic biology to medicine, announced today the publication of two papers in the journals Nature Metabolism and Communications Biology. The publications detail findings ...

Millennials, often referred to as the "job-hopping generation," represent a group of young workers who once grabbed the national spotlight with their publicized demands for "fun" work perks, such as happy hours. However, researchers at the Novak Leadership Institute at the University of Missouri and Kansas State University discovered today's young workers -- ages 21-34 -- represent a life-stage shift toward placing more value on having respectful communication in the workplace over trendy work perks. "Millennials have been called the 'entitled generation,' and they kind of give young workers a bad rap because their often-publicized interests ...

Having friends may not only be good for the health of your social life, but also for your actual health--if you're a hyena, that is. Strong social connections and greater maternal care early in life can influence molecular markers related to gene expression in DNA and future stress response, suggests a new University of Colorado Boulder study of spotted hyenas in the wild. Researchers found that more social connection and maternal care during a hyena's cub and subadult, or "teenage," years corresponded with lower adult stress hormone levels and fewer modifications to DNA, including near genes involved in immune function, inflammation and ...

The body's so-called good cholesterol may be even better than we realize. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that one type of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) has a previously unknown role in protecting the liver from injury. This HDL protects the liver by blocking inflammatory signals produced by common gut bacteria. The study is published July 23 in the journal Science. HDL is mostly known for mopping up cholesterol in the body and delivering it to the liver for disposal. But in the new study, the researchers identified a special type of HDL called HDL3 that, when produced by the intestine, blocks gut bacterial signals ...

By analyzing peoples' visitation patterns to essential establishments like pharmacies, religious centers and grocery stores during Hurricane Harvey, researchers at Texas A&M University have developed a framework to assess the recovery of communities after natural disasters in near real time. They said the information gleaned from their analysis would help federal agencies allocate resources equitably among communities ailing from a disaster. "Neighboring communities can be impacted very differently after a natural catastrophic event," said Dr. Ali Mostafavi, associate professor in the ...

Most people can expect to break close to two bones in their lifetime, but those with osteogenesis imperfecta -- also known as brittle bone disease -- can break hundreds of bones before they even hit puberty. And while healthy bones can break from a hard fall or a bad car wreck, there may not be an apparent reason at all with brittle bone disease. Classified as a rare disease, osteogenesis imperfecta, or OI, affects 6-7 people out of every 100,000 live births and can range in severity depending on the specific mutation. And while there are currently few treatment options and no cure, ...

DURHAM, N.C. - Scientists at Duke University have developed a suite of four new tests that can be used to detect coal ash contamination in soil with unprecedented sensitivity. The tests are specifically designed to analyze soil for the presence of fly ash particles so small other tests might miss them. Fly ash is part of coal combustion residuals (CCRs) that are generated when a power plant burns pulverized coal. The tiny fly ash particles, which are often microscopic in size, contain high concentrations of arsenic, selenium and other toxic elements, many of which have been ...

According to the United Nations' telecommunications agency, 93% of the global population has access to a mobile-broadband network of some kind. With data becoming more readily available to consumers, there is also an appetite for more of it, and at faster speeds. Ramy Rady, doctoral student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, is working with Dr. Kamran Entesari, his faculty advisor and professor, and Dr. Christi Madsen, professor, to design a chip that can revolutionize the current data rate for processors and technologies such as smartphones, laptops, etc. Dr. Sam Palermo, ...

Since early 2019, researchers have been recording and analysing marsquakes as part of the InSight mission. This relies on a seismometer whose data acquisition and control electronics were developed at ETH Zurich. Using this data, the researchers have now measured the red planet's crust, mantle and core - data that will help determine the formation and evolution of Mars and, by extension, the entire solar system. Mars once completely molten We know that Earth is made up of shells: a thin crust of light, solid rock surrounds a thick mantle of heavy, viscous rock, which in turn envelopes a core consisting mainly of iron and ...