The researchers presented bees with a series of artificial flowers that required evermore challenging strategies such as moving objects aside or upwards to gain a sugar syrup reward.
When inexperienced bees encountered the most complex flower first they were unable to access the syrup reward
Mirwan made artificial flowers requiring the bees to walk on the underside of a disk to get a sugar syrup reward.
Control bees that had observed not the experienced bees could not access the syrup. Social learning in animals usually involves one individual observing
When the naive bees were allowed to forage on the artificial flowers they gained the syrup in just 3. 5 minutes.
Insect pests in the makingof thousands of known species of Drosophila fruit flies just one is known as a crop pest depositing eggs inside ripening fruit
Drosophila flies found worldwide lay their eggs in rotting fruit. Drosophila suzukii also referred to as spotted-wing Drosophila
because the male has large black blotches on his wings (as do males of several other closely related species) is able to penetrate the skins of ripening fruit
and lay eggs inside. It was a surprise for western researchers when D. suzukii was identified as a pest said Joel Atallah a postdoctoral researcher at UC Davis who carried out the work with Artyom Kopp professor of evolution and ecology and undergraduate researchers Lisa Teixeira Raul
Salazar George Zaragoza and Mubasher Ahmed. Previously it was thought that Drosophila would just lay eggs on rotting fruit.
D. suzukii apparently originated in Asia and was reported in Hawaii in the 1980s. However it wasn't identified as a pest in North america until 2008 when a UC Cooperative Extension specialist sent samples of infested strawberries to Kopp's laboratory at UC Davis asking for help in identification.
or egg-laying organ of D. suzukii and three other closely related species D. subpulchrella D. biarmipes and D. mimetica.
and observed whether they were able to lay eggs in them. D. suzukii has pointed a large ovipositor with prominent bristles.
In the lab both D. suzukii and D. subpulchrella flies could penetrate the skins of cherries and raspberries and deposit eggs in them.
although they laid relatively few eggs there. Kopp noted that even when the Drosophila flies could penetrate fruit they were not very good at it taking several minutes and multiple attempts.
Laying eggs inside ripening fruit is probably a recent development for Drosophila. Kopp speculated that as flies compete for good food sources in
which to lay their eggs there would be an advantage in being able to colonize fresher and firmer fruit.
trade of crops livestock and feed. The effects were analyzed with high resolution on a subnational level to account for large countries like India
one kilo of beef for instance can be produced with much less input feed in the US than in Africa
and in some cases works well in other cases it is also a mess. For vegetable crops if farmers don't have those linkages they really can't sell perishable products.
Water parsley (Oenanthe sarmentosa) is a native plant that grows in wet areas along the west coast of North america.
Field experiments in two California State Parks in Santa cruz County showed that marsh sandwort does well in areas dominated by water parsley.
This information provided guidance for larger-scale reintroduction experiments in the Golden Gate National recreation area (GGNRA) in Marin county. We think water parsley might be a good indicator of moisture
and light conditions that work well for this endangered species. That isn't to say that every place water parsley grows will be good for marsh sandwort
but within the range of coastal habitat this plant likes planting it alongside water parsley is likely to be said successful Bontrager.
Not only does it affect their hay crop but in a region with the Arctic Grayling a candidate for endangered listing the water shortage would affect wildlife.
So in examining that scenario ranchers could see how this feeds back and that's the iteration says Murphy.
#Study fingers chickens, quail in spread of H7n9 influenza virusamong the copious species of poultry in China quail and chickens are the likely sources of infection of H7n9 influenza virus
and his collaborators first infected seven species of poultry with a human isolate of the Chinese H7n9 virus. The virus replicated well in quail
and chickens and the former quickly infected their cage-mates says Suarez. The virus replicated less well in other poultry species
#Simple changes to homework improved student learninga new study offers evidence that simple and inexpensive changes to existing courses can help students learn more effectively.
The study from Rice university and Duke university found that making a few changes to homework assignments in an upper-level undergraduate engineering course at Rice led to improved scores on exams.
and systems engineering course where the experiment took place. These simple changes produced a larger effect than the average improvement for classroom interventions that require a complete overhaul of curricula and/or teaching methods.
and physical properties in galaxies other than our own Milky way said Dr Cortese'Cosmic dust is heated by starlight to temperatures of only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero
which have a star formation and chemical history significantly different to the one in our own Milky way.
when manufacturers grocery-store owners and consumers do not know if the food has been exposed unduly to higher temperatures
In that case the consumer would know the product is edible for only another seven days
and some of them (such as Vitamin c acetic acid lactic acid and agar) are even edible he explained.
and dispersal of ancestral Polynesian chickens reconstructing the early migrations of people and the animals they carried with them.
and traced a unique genetic marker of the original Polynesian chickens that is only present in the Pacific
We have identified genetic signatures of the original Polynesian chickens and used these to track early movements
Domestic animals such as chickens carried on these early voyages have left behind a genetic record that can solve some of these long standing mysteries.
and South american chickens suggesting early human contact and found that some of the results were contaminated with modern chicken DNA
which occurs at trace levels in many laboratory components says ACAD Director Professor Alan Cooper.
We were able to show that the ancient chicken DNA provided no evidence of any Pre-columbian contact between these areas.
#Honey offers new approach to fighting antibiotic resistancehoney that delectable condiment for breads and fruits could be one sweet solution to the serious ever-growing problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics
Medical professionals sometimes use honey successfully as a topical dressing but it could play a larger role in fighting infections the researchers predicted.
The osmotic effect which is the result of the high sugar concentration in honey draws water from the bacterial cells dehydrating
#Salad at high school concession stands!?Pep-rallies the marching band cheers and chants and savory indulgent foods sold at the concession stand are beloved all features of the American high school sports tradition.
In contrast to the nutrition requirements on breakfast and lunches sold in school cafeterias foods sold at concession stands do not follow the standard nutrition guidelines
These foods included carrots apples a grilled chicken sandwich and string cheese. Furthermore the regular nacho cheese sauce was replaced with a no trans-fat variety
and the popcorn was prepared with canola oil that has saturated less fat and no trans-fat compared to the coconut oil bars previously used Overall the healthier items accounted for 9. 2%of total sales a clear indication of demand for these items.
Try adding items such as granola bars fresh fruit string cheese and mixed nuts. Rather than removing the less healthy options make them using healthier ingredients
and even former maleo hunters to guard nests from egg poachers. The most threatened of the beach nestersâ#he maleoâ#s a chicken-sized bird with a black helmet (or casque) yellow facial skin a red-orange beak
and a nesting strategy more reptilian than avian. After burying their eggs in sunbaked beaches
or in some instances volcanically heated soil the maleo parents abandon their nest. After an incubation period of approximately 70 days the chicks emerge fully feathered able to fly
and is threatened by egg harvesting and habitat loss. Nest abandonment is normal for sea turtles such as the olive ridley one of three threatened sea turtle species known to nest on the Binerean Cape area.
The species is threatened by egg harvesting and direct hunting. â#oethe round-the-clock monitoring of maleo and sea turtle nests on this protected beach prevents the exploitation of these species a threat that still frequently occurs at other sitesâ#said Dr. Peter Clyne Deputy
and it can be used in agricultural areas to hold in nutrients and bring more stability to the soils.
and increase the availability of plant nutrients he said. Additionally the biochar can be burned as charcoal
#Africans ability to digest milk linked to spread of cattle raisingbabies are born with the ability to digest lactose the sugar found in milk
The distinct geographic patterns in which these variants were present correlate in many cases with historic human migrations mixing between populations as well as the spread of cattle camels or sheep.
The researchers'analysis suggests that this variant spread more recently into southern African perhaps only in the last 1000 years.
which yield nicotine tar and a bewildering array of carcinogens and'stop smoking devices'in the form Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRTS) such as patches gum lozenges throat sprays and inhalators
In Oklahoma declining bobwhite quail numbers are especially alarming with one study relating that decline to the number of quail hunters
but no definitive explanation has been discovered for the quail decline. â#oeour study is important because prior to this we had no ability to use whole-genome technologies to monitor levels of genetic diversity over time define the genetic relationships among existing populations
and physiology. â#oenow we can peel back new layers of science to thoroughly look at many different levels of the quail problem including the utilization of whole-genome information for monitoring modern genetic diversity reconstructing historic population trends
#Concerns raised about using beta agonists in beef cattleuse of certain animal drugs known as beta agonists in cattle production has received considerable national attention.
Beta agonists improve the efficiency of beef production and this improvement provides important societal benefits Loneragan said.
This means the cattle converts more of the feed it eats into beef and it does this more efficiently.
With the use of beta agonists cattle require less feed and less water to produce the same amount of beef than
if no beta agonists were used. Less land would be used to grow the crops used to feed the animals
and therefore less fuel to produce the same amount of beef. The improvement in the efficiency of production has meaningful societal benefits.
whereas Loneragan's work covers beta agonists in feedlots which is the topic of the newly published paper.
We certainly need to better understand the manner in which animals fed beta agonist die at the feedlot
They found that microbes in the guts of rotation-resistant rootworms help those beetles that stray into soybean fields survive on soybean leaves for a few days--just long enough for the females to lay their eggs in soil that will be planted in corn the following year.
It is conceivable that earlier intervention of this personalized medicine approach could have altered the course of the disorder and possibly the child's neurological development.
tooyou don't need just to rely on hot dogs and pizza to make a buck at concession stands.
A study led by the University of Iowa examined sales revenues and profits at a booster-run concession stand in Iowa that offered healthy food items from apples to string cheese over two fall seasons.
The club registered stable sales and revenue while profits remained intact. Results appear in the Journal of Public health.
whether the club would add healthy foods--from apples to string cheese--to its concessions menu. And by the way would it also consider putting healthier ingredients in big sellers like nachos and popcorn?
Apples carrots and dip chicken sandwiches granola bars pickles soft pretzels string cheese and trail mix. The items were sold durning the 2009 fall season at Muscatine High football games volleyball matches and swim meets.
and swapped the cheese in the nachos eliminating trans fat from the products. The group advertised the new offerings in a poster
While all the healthy foods sold chicken sandwiches and pretzels dominated accounting for 7. 6 percent of all food sales sales data showed.
Granola bars and trail mix sold better indoors while carrots and dip were popular in benign outdoor weather.
String cheese suffered from being tucked away in a refrigerator. Pickles were especially popular with students. And no one noticed the healthier changes to the popcorn and nachos
which continued to sell briskly. Researchers from Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab analyzed the sales data.
If you're a concession-stand sponsor and you want people to eat better and you want to make more money add at least five healthy items says Brian Wansink the Cornell lab's director and a marketing professor.
To be sure classic concession items--hot dogs pizza and candy bars--continued to sell well. But Hansen says she noticed a shift in people's perception and attitudes about the new offerings.
We still sell hot dogs we still sell pizza we still sell candy bars. But everything in life is about choices
pepper plants nightshade and figs. The results revealed that bats flew into the dark compartment twice as often as the compartment lit by a street lamp.
In a second experiment Lewanzik illuminated pepper plants growing in the wild with a street light
This is necessary since they mainly feed on fruit of pepper plants from the Genus piper that grow in the understory.
which is the enzyme that breaks down lactose the sugar in milk and milk products.
The trial had a crossover design meaning the participants each consumed three different types of milk during the course of the study:
Additionally small amounts of sugar-free vanilla syrup were added to all three milks to make it more difficult for the participants to know which one they were drinking.
I realized that milk is everywhere--it's in salad dressing it's even in bread Gabashvili said.
predation on invertebrates indirectly affects the amount of leaf litter retained for soil-building where nutrients
Food that is rich in carbohydrates particularly fiber tends to produce larger amounts of gas than a diet without these ingredients.
Recent studies show that such a flatulogenic diet (for example bread cereals and pastries made of whole wheat
and beans soy beans corn peas Brussels'sprouts cauliflower broccoli cabbage celery onions leek garlic artichokes figs peaches grapes and prunes) induces profound changes
On the other hand we now know for sure that diets containing low fiber content improve these symptoms significantly.
Recent research results suggest that compared to a normal Western diet a diet low in so-called FODMAPS (fermentable oligosaccharides disaccharides monosaccharides
It is amazing to see how quickly gut microbiota research has gained center stage within gastroenterology in the course of the past few years says Prof.
They are marked by a bleak strongly declining south side and a less declining north side overgrown by herbs Prof.
and curry plant only on one side of the hill and not on the other one?
#Healthy midlife diet may prevent dementia laterhealthy dietary choices in midlife may prevent dementia in later years according a doctoral thesis published at the University of Eastern Finland.
The results showed that those who ate the healthiest diet at the average age of 50 had an almost 90 per cent lower risk of dementia in a 14-year follow-up study than those
whose diet was the least healthy. The study was the first in the world to investigate the relationship between a healthy diet as early as in midlife and the risk of developing dementia later on.
The researchers assessed the link between diet and dementia using a healthy diet index based on the consumption of a variety of foods.
Vegetables berries and fruits fish and unsaturated fats from milk products and spreads were some of the healthy components
whereas sausages eggs sweets sugary drinks salty fish and saturated fats from milk products and spreads were indicated as unhealthy.
Previous studies on diet and dementia have focused mainly on the impact of single dietary components.
But nobody's diet is based on one single food and there may be interactions between nutrients
so it makes more sense to look at the entire dietary pattern says Ms Marjo Eskelinen MSC who presented the results in her doctoral thesis in the field of neurology.
More than 50 scientists belonging to the Nutrient Network a team of scientists studying grasslands worldwide co-authored the study.
Gruner a member of the Nutrient Network (which participants have nicknamed Nutnet) since its founding in 2006 helped plan the worldwide study
As humans burn fossil fuels dose crops with chemical fertilizers and dispose of manure from livestock they introduce extra nitrogen and other nutrients into the soil air and water.
They often struggle to compete against grasses that use the extra nutrients to grow faster and bigger.
At the same time grasslands worldwide are being converted to pastures for domestic animals with native grazers like elk and antelope giving way to cattle and sheep.
One was treated with a set dose of fertilizers to mimic the effect of excess nutrients from human sources
And still others were former pastures where livestock had browsed in the past but were no longer there. In general where fertilizer was added
Grassland plants have evolved a variety of strategies to take advantage of a setting where nutrients are in short supply and inconsistently available.
In the human-altered world where nutrients are always plentiful plants that put their effort into growing tall to capture sunlight have an advantage.
As forests normally mature their grasses give way to herbs and shrubs and then new trees eventually take root.
When accounting for all feeding sites in the study region (ca 2000 km2) this would mean that in one fifth of the area ground-nesting birds will have little chance to see their eggs hatching.
Therefore this management practice widespread in Central europe comes into conflict with the conservation of ground-nesting birds such as grouse species
The spread of diseases for instance is one of the reasons why deer feeding has been banned in many regions of North america.
poplar wood and corn stover into biofuels. The technology could also supply a source of renewable jet fuel required by recent European union aviation emission regulations.
and oil for human food animal feed and other products global rates of yield increases for the crop will need to keep up with demand in the future.
Diet based on foraging, not horticultureresearchers from New zealand's University of Otago studying 3000-year-old skeletons from the oldest known cemetery in the Pacific Islands are casting new light on the diet
and chickens rather than primarily relying on growing crops for human food and animal fodder.
which provided a comprehensive dietary baseline Examining these ratios gave us direct evidence of the broad make-up of these adults'diets over the 10-20 years before they died
and chickens settlers were also foraging for a variety of marine food and consuming wild animals--especially fruit bats--and that whatever horticultural food they produced was relied not heavily on she says.
Isotopic analysis of the ancient pig bones found at the site also suggests that they were free-ranging rather than penned and given fodder from harvested crops.
Study of the human bones revealed a sex difference in diet compositions showing that Lapita men had varied more diets
and greater access to protein from sources such as tortoises pigs and chicken than women did.
Some of this could indeed be avoided by capitalising on ruminants'ability to digest food that humans cannot eat such as hay silage and high-fibre crop residues.
and the costs of feed and husbandry far exceed those of native breeds. Farmers therefore should be encouraged to keep
Also with some supplements animals can produce more milk and meat for proportionally less greenhouse gas.
Raising animals for milk and meat is considered often at odds with the challenge of feeding a growing human population
However the goal of public health should be a balanced diet across all countries with a target of no more than 300 grams of red meat per person per week.
and salts that are necessary for survival. Most people who die from diarrhea actually die from severe dehydration and fluid loss.
and nutrients resulting in yield losses of up to 75 percent. Lesions in the roots also make the plant more susceptible to other diseases.
The new insights into metabolites will be helpful in developing edible and pest-resistant banana varieties says Swennen.
and Remote Sensing Laboratory covered a 10-square-kilometer area that included dry land-farmed crops relying on rainfall only irrigated crops varying crop types pasture and fallow land.
fruits, vegetables linked to reduced risk of preterm deliverypregnant women who eat a prudent diet rich in vegetables fruits whole grains
A traditional dietary pattern of boiled potatoes fish and cooked vegetables was linked also to a significantly lower risk.
Although these findings cannot establish causality they support dietary advice to pregnant women to eat a balanced diet including vegetables fruit whole grains
whether a link exists between maternal diet and preterm delivery. Using data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study they analyzed preterm births among 66000 women between 2002 and 2008.
The researchers identified three distinct dietary patterns interpreted as prudent (vegetables fruits oils water as a beverage whole grain cereals poultry fibre rich bread) Western
(salty and sweet snacks white bread desserts processed meat products) and traditional (potatoes fish gravy cooked vegetables low fat milk.
This indicates that increasing the intake of foods associated with a prudent dietary pattern is more important than totally excluding processed food fast food junk food
but say the findings suggest that diet matters for the risk of preterm delivery which may reassure medical practitioners that the current dietary recommendations are sound
but also inspire them to pay more attention to dietary counselling. These findings are important as prevention of preterm delivery is of major importance in modern obstetrics.
They also indicate that preterm delivery might actually be modified by maternal diet they conclude. In an accompanying editorial Professor Lucilla Poston at King's college London says healthy eating in pregnancy is always a good idea.
She points to several studies that have proposed the benefit of a diet rich in fruit and/or vegetables in prevention of premature birth and says health professionals would
therefore be well advised to reinforce the message that pregnant women eat a healthy diet. Story Source:
and foragers collecting nectar and pollen in a realistic landscape. Professor Juliet Osborne said: It is a real challenge to understand which factors are most important in affecting bee colony growth and survival.
#New online care from dietitians helps control weighta rich chocolate cake is tempting you but where is a dietitian
They each had one in-person visit with a dietitian where together they created a plan to reduce their heart risk including the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet with eight to 10 servings of vegetables and fruits per day.
in order to lay its eggs inside them. If the larva is able to develop it will often feed on all of the seeds in the berry.
and how this complex behaviour was able to develop over the course of evolution. The Oregon grape that is closely related to the Barberry has been living in Europe for some 200 years with the risk of being infested by the tephritid fruit fly
vegetable consumptionnew federal standards launched in 2012 that require schools to offer healthier meals have led to increased fruit and vegetable consumption according to a new study from Harvard School of Public health (HSPH) researchers.
Some 32 million students eat school meals every day for many low-income students up to half their daily energy intake is from school meals.
Under the previous dietary guidelines school breakfasts and lunches were high in sodium and saturated fats and were low in whole grains and fiber.
The new standards from the United states Department of agriculture (USDA) aimed to improve the nutritional quality of school meals by making whole grains fruits
The researchers collected plate waste data among 1030 students in four schools in an urban low-income school district both before (fall 2011)
and the improved dietary intakes will likely have important health implications for children wrote the researchers.
and taking nutrients from the soil in order to synthesize a wide variety of products. Carnegie scientists asked the question:
over the last five decades human diets around the world have grown ever more similar--by a global average of 36 percent
and soybean along with meat and dairy products for most of their food said lead author Colin Khoury a scientist at the Colombia-based International Center for Tropical agriculture (CIAT) which is a member of the CGIAR Consortium.
but relying on a global diet of such limited diversity obligates us to bolster the nutritional quality of the major crops as consumption of other nutritious grains and vegetables declines.
The study calls for urgent efforts to better inform consumers about diet-related diseases and to promote healthier more diverse food alternatives.
The research reveals that the crops now predominant in diets around the world include several that were already quite important a half-century ago--such as wheat rice maize and potato.
In contrast many crops of considerable regional importance--including cereals like sorghum millets and rye as well as root crops such as sweet potato cassava and yam--have lost ground.
and the pressure increases on our global food system so does our dependence on the global crops and production systems that feed us.
as the human diet has become less diverse at the global level over the last 50 years many countries particularly in Africa
while changing to more globalized diets. In East and Southeast asia several major foods--like wheat and potato--have gained importance alongside longstanding staples like rice Khoury noted.
But this expansion of major staple foods has come at the expense of the many diverse minor foods that used to figure importantly in people's diets.
Rising incomes in developing countries for example have enabled more consumers to include larger quantities of animal products oils and sugars in their diets.
But hopeful trends are also apparent as in Northern europe where evidence suggests that consumers are tending to buy more cereals and vegetables and less meat oil and sugar.
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