The climate governs the seasonal activity of vegetation; humankind influences it. In the humid mid-latitudes, temperature is the largest influencing factor for plant growth. In predominantly dry areas, however, it is the availability of water and in the high latitudes incident solar radiation. Without a doubt, humankind also has a modifying impact on the ecosystem. Satellites have been recording how the vegetation on the Earth's surface is changing since the 1980s. Within the last thirty years, for instance, vegetation activity has increased in the northern hemisphere but ...

This press release is available in German. A new study on extinction risk has shown that proportions of plant and animal species being classified as threatened on national Red Lists are more closely related to socioeconomic pressure levels from the beginning than from the end of the 20th century. Stefan Dullinger of the University of Vienna and Franz Essl from the Austrian Environment Agency together with an international group of researchers reports this new finding in the current issue of PNAS. It is well understood that the survival of a substantial and increasing ...

Philadelphia, PA, April 16, 2013 – Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths globally. Unfortunately smoking cessation is difficult, with more than 90% of attempts to quit resulting in relapse. There are a growing number of available methods that can be tried in the effort to reduce smoking, including medications, behavioral therapies, hypnosis, and even acupuncture. All attempt to alter brain function or behavior in some way. A new study published in Biological Psychiatry now reports that a single 15-minute session of high frequency transcranial ...

Plant components that bend, roll or twist in response to external stimuli such as temperature or moisture are fairly commonplace in nature and often play a role in the dispersal of seeds. Pine cones, for instance, close their scales when wet and open them again once they have dried out. André Studart, a professor of complex materials at ETH Zurich's Department of Materials, and his group have now applied the knowledge of how these movements come about to produce synthetically a composite material with comparable properties. The secret of the pine cone Studart and co-workers ...

Like birds which stop foraging too early on a berry-laden bush, a new study suggests older people struggle to recall items because they flit too often between 'patches' in their memories. The study by the University of Warwick published in the journal Developmental Psychology seeks to model the mechanisms behind memory decline in old age. Its findings indicate that specific changes in the way older people access their memories, rather than a general 'slowing down' in mental processing speed, may be to blame for some aspects of memory decline. Using what is known as an ...

The Huemul, a species of deer found only in the Latin American region of Patagonia, is bouncing back from the brink of possible extinction as a result of collaboration between conservationists and the Chilean government, says a new study. By controlling cattle farming and policing to prevent poaching in the Bernardo O'Higgins National Park – a vast "natural Eden" covering 3.5 million hectares – conservation efforts have allowed the deer to return to areas of natural habitat from which it had completely disappeared. Researchers are hailing the findings as an example of ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) have developed a new tool to help surgeons use X-rays to track devices used in "minimally invasive" surgical procedures while also limiting the patient's exposure to radiation from the X-rays. Many surgical procedures now use long, thin devices – such as "steerable needles" – that can be inserted into a patient's body through a small incision and then steered to a target location. These "minimally invasive" procedures allow doctors to perform surgeries without having ...

New research tracking the movement of dredged sediment around Liverpool Bay could save millions of pounds, according to scientists at the National Oceanography Centre in Liverpool. Each year, sediment has to be dredged from the port and deposited elsewhere to maintain access for commercial vessels. But according to the new study, the dredged material appears back in the port again within just a few weeks of its removal, carried by sea currents. "There are two competing sediments coming in; from the sea and from the river," says Dr Alex Souza of the Natural Environment ...

Spanish industry is leading the Proba-3 mission, a world first in precise formation flying. This European Space Agency (ESA) project aims to demonstrate that two satellites can move as one single object with sub-millimetre precision. This configuration will enable the creation of enormous space telescopes with the lens and detector hundreds of metres apart. "Proba-3 will be the first mission in which two spacecraft will fly through space as a single unit, pointing at selectable directions, and with sub-millimetre precision, in other words, relative position accuracy to ...

Ypsolophid moths are a peculiar group of Lepidoptera that attracts attention with their strange preference for a pose of rest. To take a break adult Ypsolophids like to go bottom up with antennae stretched forward. The larvae of these quirky species live and feed in webs they form on the leaves, buds and twigs of plants. When they are ready to pupate they produce a cocoon like cradle attached to the host plant. This bizarre group of moths is also particularly hard to catch. The standard methods for collecting adults, usually comprising of breeding them from larvae or ...

Playing simple games using words and pictures can help people to learn a new language with greater ease, researchers from The University of Nottingham have shown. Their study, published by the scientific journal PLOS ONE, revealed that using fun, informal ways of learning not only helped complete novices to acquire a new language but also made more traditional methods of language learning more effective. PhD student Marie-Josée Bisson of the University's School of Psychology, who led the study along with Drs Walter van Heuven, Kathy Conklin and Richard Tunney, said: ...

Researchers at the University of North Carolina have discovered that transcription factors regulating the levels of oxygen in the blood also play a role in the spread of the skin cancer melanoma. In research published April 8 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, a research team led by William Kim, MD, member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and graduate student and first author Sara Hanna, linked melanoma metastases to a pair of transcription factors known as HIF1 and HIF2. Researchers found that HIF1 and HIF2 are overexpressed in melanoma tumors. ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers are developing a new type of semiconductor technology for future computers and electronics based on "two-dimensional nanocrystals" layered in sheets less than a nanometer thick that could replace today's transistors. The layered structure is made of a material called molybdenum disulfide, which belongs to a new class of semiconductors - metal di-chalogenides - emerging as potential candidates to replace today's technology, complementary metal oxide semiconductors, or CMOS. New technologies will be needed to allow the semiconductor industry ...

An innovative program that supports parents and teachers of public school pre-kindergarten students improves early academic achievement, according to a new study published in the April 15 online edition of Pediatrics. In a five-year study of 1,050 minority pre-kindergarten students from disadvantaged neighborhoods in New York City, NYU Langone researchers found that ParentCorps, a family-focused, school-based program, led to better achievement test scores and overall school performance. Children from low-income families are ten times as likely as children from middle-class ...

New Rochelle, NY, April 16, 2013—Interferons have antitumor activity and have been used to treat a variety of malignancies, including colorectal and ovarian cancers. However, their effectiveness varies. A clearer understanding of the role of interferon in immune-mediated tumor cell death and how its antitumor effects could be optimized are presented in a comprehensive Review article published in Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free online on the Journal of Interferon ...

New Rochelle, NY, April 16, 2013—Even as medical acupuncture is increasingly being validated as an effective treatment for a broad range of medical conditions, what has been missing is an understanding of the basic science and mechanisms of action of this age-old method of healing. A special issue of Medical Acupuncture, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers presents a series of articles by authors from around the world who provide diverse and insightful perspectives on the science and physiologic responses underlying medical acupuncture. ...

The chance of infection in some hospital wards varies dramatically according to whether the nurses leave the windows open. A University of Leeds-led team studied airflow in a "Nightingale" ward—a classic hospital ward design that traditionally accommodates two rows of up to 30 beds—by using tracer gases to simulate how airborne infections spread. They found ventilation in the ward was generally good when windows were left open, keeping the danger of airborne infection low. But risks increased fourfold when the windows were closed. Lead investigator Dr Cath Noakes, ...

A new process for growing forests of manganese dioxide nanorods may lead to the next generation of high-performance capacitors. As an energy-storage material for batteries and capacitors, manganese dioxide has a lot going for it: it's cheap, environmentally friendly and abundant. However, chemical capacitors made with manganese dioxide have lacked the power of the typical carbon-based physical capacitor. Michigan Technological University scientist Dennis Desheng Meng theorized that the situation could be improved if the manganese dioxide were made into nanorods, which ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., – April 16, 2013 – Many people survive their cancers, but end up dying of cardiovascular disease (CVD). New research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center finds that CVD risk factors may be overlooked during survivorship care. Kathryn E. Weaver, Ph.D., assistant professor of social sciences and health policy at Wake Forest Baptist, and colleagues surveyed survivors of breast, prostate, colorectal and gynecologic cancers in search of answers. "Increasingly, we are concerned about cardiovascular health in long-term cancer survivors, and we believe ...

INDIANAPOLIS -- William M. Tierney, M.D. focuses on the potential of electronic medical systems and computer-based decision support to control healthcare costs in "Controlling costs with computer-based decision support: a hammer, a scalpel or an illusion?" published online in JAMA Internal Medicine on April 15. Dr. Tierney is president and CEO of the Regenstrief Institute, associate dean for clinical effectiveness research at the Indiana University School of Medicine, chief of medicine for Wishard-Eskenazi Health, and a practicing physician. Drawing upon his lengthy ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — An international team of researchers, including an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside, has an explanation for why we see so many hybrid moths in nature. The team closely examined the behavior and the olfactory circuitry of male moths and found an answer in female-produced pheromones — chemicals generally consisting of a blend of two to several derivatives of fatty acids. Male moths use pheromones to find females. To avoid mating with the wrong moth species, the pheromone blends are specific for each moth species, with only males ...

Achieving widespread reductions in preventable hospital readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries may take longer than many health care professionals originally anticipated, according to researchers at Penn State, the Weill Cornell Medical College and the University of Pennsylvania. "Studies show that one in five Medicare beneficiaries returns to the hospital within 30 days of discharge at an annual cost of $18 billion to the program, and many of these readmissions are thought to be preventable with better care," said Jessica Mittler, assistant professor of health policy ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Researchers may have found a way to block kidney-destroying inflammation and help damaged kidney cells recover. In a related study, they report progress on a non-invasive method to assess how much kidney function has survived a serious bout of inflammation or a chronic problem like high blood pressure. The diagnostic tool could help physicians make hard choices about whether a patient has enough kidney function left to benefit from treatment or whether dialysis or a transplant is in their future, said Dr. Michael P. Madaio, nephrologist and Chairman of ...

CHICAGO --- A study published today in the European Heart Journal found no evidence that digoxin increases mortality in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), the opposite of results just published by another group in the same journal analyzing the same data. Older patients with AF also often have heart failure, and digoxin is approved to treat both conditions. AF is the most common kind of cardiac arrhythmia, an electrical malfunction that throws off the heart's rhythm and pumping rate. It may cause no symptoms or cause some patients to faint, but is seldom fatal. Heart ...

The latest national survey of 100% biodiesel (B100) "blend stock" samples by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that 95% of the samples from 2011-12 met ASTM International fuel quality specifications. The ASTM standards serve as guidelines for industry and are designed to ensure quality at the pump for consumers – along with reliable operation of the nation's vehicles powered by biodiesel blends. "The survey showed a major improvement over results from previous years," NREL Senior Chemist Teresa Alleman said. "In our 2007 ...