Study found 35% fewer bird species in agricultural habitats Researchers say farmland is a poor substitute for natural areas but simple improvements could make a difference to biodiversity conservation Research led by the University of Exeter has found a substantial reduction in bird species living in cultivated mango orchards compared to natural habitats in Southern Africa. The results, which are published today in the journal Landscape Ecology, highlight the value of assessing habitats prior to land use change to predict the impact of agriculture on biodiversity. The ...

Wind turbines could be installed under some of the biggest bridges on the road network to produce electricity. So it is confirmed by calculations carried out by a European researchers team, that have taken a viaduct in the Canary Islands as a reference. This concept could be applied in heavily built-up territories or natural areas with new constructions limitations. The Juncal Viaduct, in Gran Canaria, has served as a reference for Spanish and British researchers to verify that the wind blowing between the pillars on this kind of infrastructures can move wind turbines ...

Amsterdam, July 2, 2015 - Biologically active molecules released by digesting bread and pasta can survive digestion and potentially pass through the gut lining, suggests new research. The study, published in the journal of Food Research International, reveals the molecules released when real samples of bread and pasta are digested, providing new information for research into gluten sensitivity. The research is in vitro - in the lab rather than in humans - and the authors of the study, from the University of Milan, Italy, say that more research is needed to determine what ...

With the number of individuals affected by cognitive decline expected to rise over the next few decades, investigating its potential causes is of major public health interest. Two new studies published today in the American Journal of Hypertension delve into the connection between hypertension and cognitive decline. Racial disparity in cognitive and functional disability in hypertension and its mortality Researchers assessed the prevalence and racial disparity of subjective cognitive and functional limitations and their impact on mortality in the hypertensive US ...

This news release is available in Japanese. Researchers from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), the University of Tokyo and other institutions have begun a wide-area survey of the distribution of dark matter in the universe using Hyper Suprime-Cam, a new wide-field camera installed on the Subaru Telescope in Hawai'i. Initial results from observations covering an area of 2.3 square degrees on the sky toward the constellation Cancer revealed nine large concentrations of dark matter, each the mass of a galaxy cluster. Surveying how dark matter ...

The hormones testosterone and cortisol may destabilise financial markets by making traders take more risks, according to a study. Researchers simulated the trading floor in the lab by having volunteers buy and sell assets among themselves. They measured the volunteers' natural hormone levels in one experiment and artificially raised them in another. When given doses of either hormone, the volunteers invested more in risky assets. The researchers think the stressful and competitive environment of financial markets may promote high levels of cortisol and testosterone ...

Researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have found a way to stimulate the growth of axons, which may spell the dawn of a new beginning on chronic SCI treatments. Chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a formidable hurdle that prevents a large number of injured axons from crossing the lesion, particularly the corticospinal tract (CST). Patients inflicted with SCI would often suffer a loss of mobility, paralysis, and interferes with activities of daily life dramatically. While physical therapy and rehabilitation would help the patients to ...

For a number of years now, scientific literature has questioned whether mortality rates depend on socioeconomic differences among the population. Recently, a new study carried out in 15 European cities - including Barcelona and Madrid - detected inequalities for the majority of causes, concluding that higher levels of poverty are associated with higher mortality rates and there is a great deal of variation among areas. Social inequality is increasingly considered to be a public health problem. However, scant research has been carried out into associating these differences ...

A team comprised of scientists at VIB, KU Leuven and UZ Leuven has made significant progress in uncovering the connection between psychological factors and the immune system. Their findings are based on an investigation of a massive drinking water contamination incident in Belgium in 2010, and are now published in the leading international medical journal Gut. In December 2010, the Belgian communities of Schelle and Hemiksem in the province of Antwerp faced an outbreak of gastroenteritis, with more than 18,000 people exposed to contaminated drinking water. During the ...

Scientists have pioneered the use of a high-powered imaging technique to picture in exquisite detail one of the central proteins of life - a cellular recycling unit with a role in many diseases. The proteasome complex is present in all multicellular organisms, and plays a critical role in cancer by allowing cancer cells to divide rapidly. Researchers used a technique called electron cryo-microscopy, or 'cryo-EM' - imaging samples frozen to -180oC - to show the proteasome complex in such extraordinary detail that they could view a prototype drug bound to its active sites. The ...

This news release is available in German. Acute liver failure is a rare yet life-threatening disease for young children. It often occurs extremely rapidly, for example, when a child has a fever. Yet in around 50 percent of cases it is unclear as to why this happens. Now, a team of researchers working on an international research project headed by Technische Universität München (TUM), the Helmholtz Zentrum Munich and Heidelberg University Hospital have discovered a link between the disease and mutations in a specific gene. The researchers used whole genome ...

New research led by the University of Southampton is paving the way to protect the endangered European eel as they migrate through rivers to the ocean. The European eel, a fish of high cultural, commercial and conservation concern, has suffered a dramatic decline over recent decades, with the number of juvenile fish returning to rivers down by over 90 per cent. While several explanations (including overfishing, pollution and climate change) have been proposed for the cause of this demise, one of the key factors is river infrastructure, such as hydropower stations, ...

This news release is available in Japanese. Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have identified a system that could store quantum information for longer times, which is critical for the future of quantum computing. This study was recently published in Physical Review Letters. Quantum computing -- which aims to use particles on the atomic scale to make calculations and store the results -- has the potential to solve some key problems much faster than current computers. To make quantum computing a reality, ...

(NEW YORK CITY - July 1, 2015) A novel synthetic hormone that makes certain skin cells produce more melanin significantly increases pain-free sun exposure in people with erythropoietic protoporphyria, a rare, genetic disorder resulting in excruciating pain within minutes of sun exposure. Two Phase III trials, conducted in Europe and in the United States by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and six other U.S. sites, showed that the duration of pain-free time in the sun and quality of life were significantly improved by treatment with afamelanotide, ...

Pregnancy and motherhood are both wonderful and worrisome times - could public health campaigns and social stereotypes be contributing to anxiety for mothers? Researchers from Monash University have identified links between perinatal anxiety and social and health messages that women are exposed to during the perinatal period, the period immediately before and after birth. In a paper recently published in Women's Studies International Forum, Dr Heather Rowe and Professor Jane Fisher from the Jean Hailes Research Unit within the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine ...

Unwanted, intrusive visual memories are a core feature of stress- and trauma-related clinical disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but they can also crop up in everyday life. New research shows that even once intrusive memories have been laid down, playing a visually-demanding computer game after reactivating the memories may reduce their occurrence over time. The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "This work is the first to our knowledge to show that a 'simple cognitive blockade' ...

Spider-like cells inside the brain, spinal cord and eye hunt for invaders, capturing and then devouring them. These cells, called microglia, often play a beneficial role by helping to clear trash and protect the central nervous system against infection. But a new study by researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) shows that they also accelerate damage wrought by blinding eye disorders, such as retinitis pigmentosa. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health. "These findings are important because they suggest that microglia may provide a target for entirely ...

A new method for calculating the exact time of death, even after as much as 10 days, has been developed by a group of researchers at the University of Salzburg. Currently, there are no reliable ways to determine the time since death after approximately 36 hours. Initial results suggest that this method can be applied in forensics to estimate the time elapsed since death in humans. By observing how muscle proteins and enzymes degrade in pigs, scientists at the University of Salzburg have developed a new way of estimating time since death that functions up to at least ...

When remembering something from our past, we often vividly re-experience the whole episode in which it occurred. New UCL research funded by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust has now revealed how this might happen in the brain. The study, published in Nature Communications, shows that when someone tries to remember one aspect of an event, such as who they met yesterday, the representation of the entire event can be reactivated in the brain, including incidental information such as where they were and what they did. "When we recall a previous life event, ...

Classical Brownian motion theory was established over one hundred year ago, describing the stochastic collision behaviors between surrounding molecules. Recently, researchers from Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered that the self-powered liquid metal motors in millimeter scale demonstrated similar Brownian like motion behaviors in alkaline solution. And the force comes from the hydrogen gas stream generated at the interface between liquid metal motor and its contacting substrate bottom. Ever since the irregular motions ...

A group of the world's top doctors and scientists working in cardiology and preventive medicine have issued a call to action to tackle the global problem of deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart problems, diabetes and cancer, through healthy lifestyle initiatives. They say that identifying the enormous burden caused by NCDs is not enough and it is time for "all hands on deck" to pursue strategies both within and outside traditional healthcare systems that will succeed in promoting healthier lifestyles in order to prevent or delay health conditions ...

Sophia Antipolis, 02 July 2015: Patients are experiencing significant delays in access to approved cardiovascular devices due to bureaucratic inefficiencies, reveals a Devices White Paper from the Cardiovascular Round Table (CRT) published today in European Heart Journal.1 There is a clear correlation between declining death rates from cardiovascular disease and the introduction of innovative techniques and devices.1 The CRT is an independent forum established by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and comprised of cardiologists and representatives of the pharmaceutical, ...

Birds that moult at the wrong time of the year could be disadvantaged, according to a study by scientists at Lund University, Sweden. Birds depend on a full set of feathers for maximum efficiency when flying long distances, but the study shows that moulting has a detrimental effect on their flight performance. The researchers trained a jackdaw to fly in a wind tunnel and measured different types of drag experienced by the bird. "We expected the bird not to be able to glide at the lowest speeds that it could glide at before moult and our results confirmed this", says ...

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may be successfully supported in classrooms through strategies that do not involve drugs, new research has indicated. These children are typically restless, act without thinking and struggle to concentrate, which causes particular problems for them and for others in school. A systematic review was led by the University of Exeter Medical School funded by NIHR's Health Research Technology Assessment programme and supported by the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West ...

Being able to dive is what matters most for seal pups, but how do they learn to do it? Grey seal pups that can play in pools may have better diving skills once they make the move to the sea, and this could increase their chance of survival. Researchers at Plymouth University have found that spending time in pools of water helps seal pups hold their breath for longer. Many seal species stay on land after they have weaned before they go to sea to feed for the first time. "It is during this period of fasting that access to water can make a difference to diving ability," ...