MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (03/07/2013) —African lions and villagers would benefit from fences to protect them from each other, according to a new study by University of Minnesota researcher Craig Packer published online by Ecology Letters on Tuesday, March 5. Fencing has long been anathema to most conservationists, but Packer said it offers the best hope for saving iconic African wildlife, an undertaking that will require sweeping measures rather than piecemeal efforts. In an interview, he called for an international "Marshall Plan" to erect fences where possible to protect ...

Irvine, Calif., March 7, 2013 – Positive emotions are known to play a role in physical well-being, and stress is strongly linked to poor health, but is this strictly a "First World" phenomenon? In developing nations, is the fulfillment of basic needs more critical to health than how one feels? A UC Irvine researcher has found that emotions do affect health around the world and may, in fact, be more important to wellness in low-income countries. The study, which appears online in Psychological Science, is the first to examine the emotion-health connection in a representative ...

The enteric nervous system (ENS), the "little brain" that resides within the gut wall, governs motility, secretion, and blood flow in the human gastrointestinal tract. Failure of the ENS to develop normally leads to congenital megacolon (Hirschsprung Disease) while loss of normal gut innervation is thought to contribute to debilitating motility disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome. In order to prevent and treat these conditions, it is necessary to understand the molecular mechanisms that control the formation and function of the ENS. In this issue of the Journal ...

In addition to its well-known effects on the CNS, alcohol consumption has a significant impact on metabolism. After consumption, the body rapidly begins converting ethanol to acetate, which can serve as an energy source for the brain and other organs. Lihong Jiang and colleagues at Yale University used a brain imaging technique, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, to track acetate uptake and metabolism in the brains of heavy drinkers (consumed at least 8 drinks/week) and light drinkers (consumed less than 2 drinks/week). In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, ...

Enhanced brain acetate metabolism may reward heavy drinkers In addition to its well-known effects on the CNS, alcohol consumption has a significant impact on metabolism. After consumption, the body rapidly begins converting ethanol to acetate, which can serve as an energy source for the brain and other organs. Lihong Jiang and colleagues at Yale University used a brain imaging technique, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, to track acetate uptake and metabolism in the brains of heavy drinkers (consumed at least 8 drinks/week) and light drinkers (consumed less than 2 drinks/week). ...

ANN ARBOR—In evolutionary biology, there is a deeply rooted supposition that you can't go home again: Once an organism has evolved specialized traits, it can't return to the lifestyle of its ancestors. There's even a name for this pervasive idea. Dollo's law states that evolution is unidirectional and irreversible. But this "law" is not universally accepted and is the topic of heated debate among biologists. Now a research team led by two University of Michigan biologists has used a large-scale genetic study of the lowly house dust mite to uncover an example of reversible ...

The newly described species Alburnoides manyasensis, belongs the large carp family Cyprinidae that includes freshwater fishes such as he carps, the minnows, and their relatives. This is the largest fish family, and more notably the largest family of vertebrate animals, with the remarkable numbers of over 2,400 species. Cyprinids are highly important food fish because they make the largest part of biomass in most water types except for fast-flowing rivers. The genus Alburnoides is widely distributed in Turkey in rivers and streams of basins of the Marmara, Black and ...

CORAL GABLES, FL (March 8, 2013) -- University of Miami (UM) Psychologist Alexandra L. Quittner leads one of the largest, most nationally representative studies of the effects of parenting on very young, deaf children who have received cochlear implants. The findings indicate that mothers who are most sensitive in their interactions with their children receiving cochlear implants have kids that develop language faster, almost "catching up" to their hearing peers. The report is published in the Journal of Pediatrics. "I was surprised that maternal sensitivity had such ...

A multi-institutional study has revealed that BRAF-positive metastatic malignant melanomas develop resistance to treatment with drugs targeting the BRAF/MEK growth pathway through a major change in metabolism. The findings, which will be published in Cancer Cell and have been released online, suggest a strategy to improve the effectiveness of currently available targeted therapies. "We were surprised to find that melanoma cells treated with the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib dramatically change the way they produce energy to stay alive," says David E. Fisher, MD, PhD, chief ...

Patients with diseases such as diabetes suffer from painful wounds that take a long time to heal making them more susceptible to infections that could even lead to amputations. A*STAR's discovery paves the way for therapeutics to improve healing of such chronic wounds, which are a significant burden to patients. 1. Scientists from A*STAR's Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) have identified a molecular "switch" that controls the migration of skin cells necessary for wounds to close and heal. This is especially significant for diabetics and other patients who suffer from ...

Americans take electrical power for granted whenever they flip on a light switch. But the growing use of solar and wind power in the United States makes the on-demand delivery of electricity more challenging. A key problem is that the U.S. electrical grid has virtually no storage capacity, so grid operators can't stockpile surplus clean energy and deliver it at night, or when the wind isn't blowing. To provide more flexibility in managing the grid, researchers have begun developing new batteries and other large-scale storage devices. But the fossil fuel required to ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Most organisms would die in the volcanic sulfur pools of Yellowstone and Mount Etna. Robust simple algae call it home, and their secrets to survival could advance human medicine and bioremediation. Mike Garavito, Michigan State University professor of biochemistry and molecular biology was part of a research team that revealed how primitive red algae use horizontal gene transfer, in essence stealing useful genes from other organisms to evolve and thrive in harsh environments. Their study, published in the current issue of Science, shows that the ...

Drugs that combat ageing may be available within five years, following landmark work led by an Australian researcher. The work, published in the March 8 issue of Science, finally proves that a single anti-ageing enzyme in the body can be targeted, with the potential to prevent age-related diseases and extend lifespans. The paper shows all of the 117 drugs tested work on the single enzyme through a common mechanism. This means that a whole new class of anti-ageing drugs is now viable, which could ultimately prevent cancer, Alzheimer's disease and type 2 diabetes. "Ultimately, ...

Viruses and genes interact in a way that may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia significantly. This happens already in the developing foetus. An international team of scientists led by Aarhus University, Denmark, has made this discovery. As the first in the world, they scanned the entire genome of hundreds of sick and healthy people to see if there is an interaction between genes and a very common virus - cytomegalovirus - and to see whether the interaction influences the risk of developing schizophrenia. And it does. Women that have been infected by the virus ...

Researchers at the Ruhr Universität Bochum have developed a new method for attaching proteins to the surface of germanium crystals – for the first time also membrane proteins. This enables time-resolved tracking of the interactions between molecules using infrared spectroscopy in a way that is accurate down to atomic resolution. The method is applied in the EU project "Kinetics for Drug Discovery, K4DD", in which scientists explore the interplay of drugs and their interaction partners. With the new technology, the researchers can also study so-called G-protein-coupled receptors, ...

The fact that excess weight during pregnancy has negative consequences is not new information. A new study now concludes that the children of mothers obese before falling pregnant are four times more likely to have frequent wheezing, which is one of the symptoms of asthma, compared to the children of mothers weighing a normal weight. Researchers from the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) assessed whether obesity in mothers increases the risk of their children having frequent wheezing, a symptom associated with susceptibility to asthma during infancy ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A signaling molecule that helps stem cells survive in the naturally low-oxygen environment inside the bone marrow may hold clues to helping the cells survive when the going gets worse with age and disease, researchers report. They hope the findings, reported in PLOS ONE, will result in better therapies to prevent bone loss in aging and enhance success of stem cell transplants for a wide variety of conditions from heart disease to cerebral palsy and cancer. They've found that inside the usual, oxygen-poor niche of mesenchymal stem cells, stromal cell-derived ...

This press release is available in Spanish. New York, March 8th 2013 – Scientists of the United States of America, Ireland, and Chile met this week in New York to discuss recent scientific evidence regarding abortion as a form of growing violence against women and girls. Indiscriminate practice of abortion is significantly correlated with coercion, a history of sexual abuse, violence during pregnancy, intimate partner violence, and with psychological consequences that may lead to suicide. The scientific evidence was discussed by Doctors Monique Chireau (North Carolina, ...

DETROIT — The fatigue experienced by patients undergoing cancer treatments has long been recognized by health care providers, although its causes and ways to manage it are still largely unknown. A Wayne State University researcher believes the condition affects some patients much more than others and is trying to determine the nature of that difference. Horng-Shiuann Wu, Ph.D., assistant professor of nursing in the College of Nursing, has made an effort to chronicle the parameters of what she calls sudden exhaustion syndrome. Her study, "Definition, Prevalence and Characteristics ...

EUGENE, Ore. -- (March 8, 2013) -- A study of 345 female university students found that 233 of them had experienced at least one unwanted sexual experience in their lifetime, and 46 percent of those victims also experienced betrayal by the institution where incidents occurred. In the final analysis, researchers found, those who experienced institutional betrayal suffered the most in four post-trauma measurement categories, including anxiety and dissociation. The study by the University of Oregon's doctoral student Carly Parnitzke Smith and Jennifer J. Freyd, professor ...

Jared M. O'Leary, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, and colleagues analyzed U.S. hospitalizations from 1998 through 2010 for children and adults with congenital heart disease. "There are more than 787,000 adults with congenital heart disease in the United States. Adults with congenital heart disease remain at risk for frequent hospitalizations," the authors write in a Research Letter published online by JAMA to coincide with its presentation at the American College of Cardiology's annual Scientific Sessions. The researchers identified congenital heart disease ...

A clinical trial of patients with post-acute coronary syndrome (ACS, heart disease) depression finds that a centralized, patient-preference program decreased depressive symptoms and may be cost-neutral over time, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. The study is being released early to coincide with its presentation at the American College of Cardiology's annual Scientific Sessions. About 1.2 million Americans survive an ACS event every year and many of them have clinically significant and persistent depression. ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Farmers can make a profit selling their produce directly to local businesses, but they must not let possible new costs weaken their commitment to the new venture, according to an international team of researchers. "We found that the farmers who really made a conscious decision to sell local and who made more of a commitment tended to do better than those who are just testing the waters with local direct selling," said Amit Sharma, associate professor of hospitality management, Penn State. Sharma added that farmers who were only testing the idea ...

HERSHEY, Pa. -- Only about one in five central Pennsylvania women who have experienced intimate partner violence is asked or counseled by a health care provider about abuse, according to Penn State medicine and public health science researchers. Overall, approximately only one in nine women has received preventive counseling about violence and safety. "Our research shows that we (as a healthcare community) haven't been doing a good job of identifying and counseling about intimate partner violence," said Jennifer S. McCall-Hosenfeld, primary care physician and assistant ...

Two types of environmental conditions—cold-dry and humid-rainy—are associated with seasonal influenza epidemics, according to an epidemiological study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health's Fogarty International Center. The paper, published in PLOS Pathogens, presents a simple climate-based model that maps influenza activity globally and accounts for the diverse range of seasonal patterns observed across temperate, subtropical and tropical regions. The findings could be used to improve existing current influenza transmission models, and could help ...