Sometimes called land grabbing this practice can put strains on land and water resources in impoverished countries where the land and needed water has been grabbed for commercial-scale agriculture.
or better than the potent anticancer drug Taxol a Michigan Technological University scientist has discovered in laboratory tests.
along with 83 percent of the colon cancer cells while normal lung cells were unharmed virtually. Taxol was lethal to the cancer cells too
Wusirika thinks the rice callus culture may be attacking cancer with the same sort of plant chemicals that make vegetables so healthy to eat.
We think that's what is killing the cancer. Next Wusirika would like to try the rice callus solution on prostate lung and breast cancer cells the most common types of cancer in the US.
We think it will work with all of them but we need to find out he said.
He also wants to determine which of the compounds released by the rice callus have cancer-killing properties
and how they work against tumor cells. Or he notes it's possible that the suite of biochemicals found in the callus solution work as a team to fight cancer.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Michigan Technological University. The original article was written by Marcia Goodrich.
Ozone is both a major air pollutant with known adverse health effects and a greenhouse gas that traps heat from escaping Earth's atmosphere.
Scientists and policy analysts are interested in learning how curbing the emissions of these chemicals can improve human health
Our study could enable policy researchers to calculate the relative health and climate benefits of air pollution control
and leading to increased'stress'levels as detected through hormone analysis. The research published January 22 in the International Journal of Primatology took place in the tropical rainforests of the Mexican state of Veracruz
It shows that increases in howler monkey'travel time'--the amount of time needed to find requisite nourishment--are leading to increases in levels of stress hormones called glucocorticoids.
and resulting health implications more generally in primates living in habitats disturbed by human activities such as deforestation.
Howlers are arboreal primates that is to say they spend their wholes lives in the trees said Dr Jacob Dunn from Cambridge's Department of Biological Anthropology who carried out the research.
and can be filled with toxins--a natural defence mechanism in most trees and plants--so the monkeys are forced actually to spend more time seeking out the right foliage to eat such as new shoots
which are generally less toxic. The traditional view was that the leaves exploited by howler monkeys were an abundant food source
This leads to the increased'travel time'and consequent high levels of stress we are seeing in these primates as their habitats disintegrate.
As trying to catch the howlers to examine them would in itself be highly stressful for the animal the best way of evaluating stress levels in wild primates is by analysing their faeces for glucocorticoid stress hormones which are general to all vertebrates.
Through statistical modelling the researchers were able to determine that it is the'travel time'--rather than the increased foliage intake--causing high levels of stress.
Monkeys in disturbed habitats suffering high levels of stress is in itself unsurprising perhaps but now we think we know why the root cause from the primates perspective.
and planting fruit trees--particularly those species such as figs that can produce fruit during periods of general fruit scarcity--for the conservation of howler monkeys said Dr Jurgi Cristã bal-Azkarate also from Cambridge who led the research
in collaboration with Dr Joaquim Vea from the University of Barcelona. The authors say that further studies are required to fully understand the significance of increases in stress in howler monkeys living in disturbed habitats.
Determining the full relevance of our results for the conservation of primates living in forest fragments will require long-term studies of stress hormones
and survival said Dunn. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Cambridge.
and feed on them decreasing the harm produced by these worms over the acorns. Therefore voles scattered
The study was led by Dr Nicholas Brereton and Dr Michael Ray both from the Department of Life sciences at Imperial College London who worked with researchers at Rothamsted Research and the University of the Highlands and Islands'Agronomy Institute (at Orkney College UHI).
The study is published in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels. Dr Brereton said: We've known for some time that environmental stresses can cause trees to naturally develop a slightly modified'reaction wood
and that it can be easier to release sugars from this wood. This is an important breakthrough our study now shows that natural genetic variations are responsible for these differences
and this could well be the key to unlocking the future for sustainable bioenergy from willow.#
Dr Angela Karp at Rothamsted Research who leads the BBSRC-funded BSBEC-Biomass project said#oewe are excited very about these results
because they show that some willows respond more to environmental stresses such as strong winds by changing the composition of their wood in ways that are useful to us.
About Willow Treestraditionally grown for wicker furniture and baskets and an ancient medicinal plant whose chemical contents were the precursors to Aspirin willows are seen now as important crops for energy and the environment.
Willow requires less than a tenth of the fertiliser used for most cereal crops and its shoots re-grow quickly after they are harvested.
Climate change to profoundly affect U s. Midwest in coming decadesin the coming decades climate change will lead to more frequent and more intense Midwest heat waves while degrading air and water quality and threatening public health.
and analyzes its likely effects on human health water energy transportation agriculture forests ecosystems and biodiversity.
Rosina Bierbaum of SNRE and the School of Public health was a lead convening author of the chapter on climate change adaptation.
In addition Bierbaum and Marie O'neill of the School of Public health serve on the 60-person advisory committee that oversaw development of the draft report
and those trends are expected to continue causing erosion declining water quality and negative impacts on transportation agriculture human health and infrastructure according to the report.
Climate change will likely worsen a host of existing problems in the Great lakes including changes in the range and distribution of important commercial and recreational fish species increases in invasive species declining beach health and more frequent harmful
In the long term combined stresses associated with climate change are expected to decrease agricultural productivity in the Midwest.
and waterborne illnesses because of the condition of cooking and eating facilities available to them according to a new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical center.
Researchers from Wake Forest Baptist are the first to evaluate cooking and eating facilities in migrant farmworker camps to compare against established housing regulations.
The study which appears online in the January issue of the American Journal of Public health is part of an ongoing program of community-based participatory research at Wake Forest Baptist in conjunction with the N c. Farmworkers Project
and other clinics and organizations service state farmworkers. The structural sanitation and pest infestation problems documented in these kitchens are interrelated said the study's lead author Sara A. Quandt Ph d. a professor of epidemiology and prevention at Wake Forest Baptist.
The researchers investigated the cooking and eating facilities and collected data from 182 migrant farmworker camps in eastern North carolina during the 2010 agricultural season.
because the cooking and eating facilities can have immediate and significant effects on the workers'health safety
Food contamination during storage or preparation lack of appropriate kitchen facilities and undercooking can increase the risk of foodborne illnesses.
In the long term absence of safe food storage or cooking facilities can prevent consumption of healthy foods leading to elevated chronic disease risk.
A limitation of the study which was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (grant RO1 ES012358) Quandt said is that data were collected only in eastern North carolina
and may not represent conditions of migrant camps in other regions. Quandt said that greater enforcement of regulations particularly
Farmworker housing is a potential source of exposures that threaten workers'health and safety she said.
The above story is provided based on materials by Wake Forest Baptist Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
They even release toxins to make it less likely native plants will germinate near them. Why then are recent popular science articles recommending a recalibration of the traditional no-tolerance attitude toward nonnative species suggesting that we've been unfair to invasives
Potential new treatments for deadly sleeping sicknesswhile its common name may make it sound almost whimsical sleeping sickness
or African trypanosomiasis is in reality a potentially fatal parasitic infection that has ravaged populations in Sub-saharan africa for decades
Few drugs have been developed to treat sleeping sickness since the 1940s and those still in use are highly toxic sometimes causing painful side effects and even death.
But researchers at the University of Georgia have made a discovery that may soon lead to new therapies for this critically neglected disease that cause neither the risks nor the pain associated with traditional treatments.
The scientists at UGA's Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases discovered a specific receptor tucked away in an organelle inside the disease-causing trypanosome parasite that regulates the release of calcium
which is responsible for numerous critical cell functions required for parasite growth and replication. This receptor is an attractive drug target said Roberto Docampo Barbara
and Sanford Orkin/Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and co-author of a paper describing their findings published Jan 14 in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
so if we can manipulate them we can stop the infection. The calcium receptor identified by the researchers serves as a kind of messenger within the parasite telling it
and mice in the experimental group remained disease free. We knew that these organelles were rich in acidic calcium
Now that we better understand this critical pathway we may begin thinking about new therapies for sleeping sickness.
Many previous global efforts to prevent transmission of sleeping sickness have focused on controlling or eradicating the tsetse fly
and pigs may fall victim to nagana the animal version of sleeping sickness which when translated from Zulu means depressed in spirit.
but animal sleeping sickness has made it very difficult for many people in this region to establish strong agriculture Docampo said.
We hope that potential therapies will be equally applicable to animals and that it will have a positive impact on the area's economic outlook.
Docampo and his colleagues are also confident that their discovery will have applications beyond the treatment of sleeping sickness.
which may lead to new therapies for uncontrollable bleeding and trauma. These are fundamental discoveries about cell life
and in the lives of other organisms and we hope that these will lead to new therapies for a variety of disorders.
#Tree and human health may be linkedevidence is increasing from multiple scientific fields that exposure to the natural environment can improve human health.
In a new study by the U s. Forest Service the presence of trees was associated with human health.
of a major change in the natural environment on human health. In an analysis of 18 years of data from 1296 counties in 15 states researchers found that Americans living in areas infested by the emerald ash borer a beetle that kills ash trees suffered from an additional
15000 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 6000 more deaths from lower respiratory disease when compared to uninfected areas.
When emerald ash borer comes into a community city streets lined with ash trees become treeless.
The researchers analyzed demographic human mortality and forest health data at the county level between 1990 and 2007.
and education--are published in the current issue of the American Journal of Preventive medicine. There's a natural tendency to see our findings
and human mortality from cardiovascular and lower respiratory disease it did not prove a causal link.
#Privacy a problem for mothers of newborns in neonatal intensive care unitsmany mothers of newborns in neonatal intensive care units have difficulty finding private quiet places in the hospital to express milk according to a new
or makes them too timid to express milk--is an even greater health risk for low-weight premature newborns
because milk enriched with the mother's antibodies helps ward off infection and gastrointestinal problems. The meaning of privacy might differ for mothers and the hospital.
This calls for new ways to create privacy for these mothers who want to breastfeed said Donna Dowling the lead researcher from the CWRU nursing school.
Dowling and Mary Ann Blatz a doctorate of nurse practice student and lactation consultant collaborated on the study reported in the journal Advances in Neonatal Care article Mothers'Experiences Expressing Breast Milk
while pumping kept them from starting pumping for fear of missing progress reports during a doctor's rounds.
Missing the meeting might mean waiting hours before being able to meet with the doctor again.
The respondents also felt uncomfortable expressing milk in front of the doctor or groups of doctors making rounds Dowling reports.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends feeding babies breast milk exclusively for the first six months of life with continued breastfeeding until at least 12 months.
#New Antarctic geological timeline aids future sea-level predictionsradiocarbon dates of tiny fossilised marine animals found in Antarctica's seabed sediments offer new clues about the recent rapid
Lead author Dr Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand from BAS says As snow and ice builds up on the vast Antarctic Ice Sheet the ice flows from the centre of the continent through glaciers towards the sea where it often forms floating ice shelves and eventually breaks off as icebergs.
Co-author Dr Gerhard Kuhn from AWI explains It was important to get a better understanding of the rapid retreat that we see in the satellite data.
Co-author Dr James Smith also from BAS adds First we determined the distance between the core locations
#Poultry vaccination responsible for dramatic fall in Salmonella infectionsmass poultry vaccination programmes introduced to combat Salmonella infections have led to a dramatic fall in the number of cases since the late 1990s according to a researcher at the University of Liverpool.
Salmonella are borne important food pathogens worldwide causing diarrhea vomiting nausea fever and abdominal pain. There are currently around 6 million cases of illness from Salmonella across the EU each year the majority
of which are linked to food items such as eggs chicken beef pork salad vegetables and dairy products. Between 1981 and 1991 the number of salmonella infections rose by 170%in the UK driven primarily by an epidemic of Salmonella enteritidis
which peaked in 1993. A raft of control measures were introduced into the poultry industry including movement restrictions compulsory slaughter
and disinfection procedures as well as a voluntary industry-led vaccination scheme that began in breeding flocks in 1994 and in laying flocks in 1998.
but the mass vaccination of poultry has continued by those breeders subscribing to the Lion Quality Code of Practice
The code of practice requires mandatory vaccination of all young hens destined to lay Lion eggs against Salmonella as well as traceability of hens eggs
Sarah O'brien Professor of Epidemiology and Zoonoses from the University's Institute of Infection and Global Health attributes a dramatic fall in the number of Salmonella cases in humans to this mass vaccination programme in poultry.
We have seen a marked decline in the number of incidents of Salmonella infection shown by two significant studies conducted 10 years apart.
In addition the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of illness dropped from more than 18000 in 1993 to just 459 in 2010 (3). The nature of public health interventions often means that evaluating their impact is complex as they are implemented often simultaneously.
The decrease in laboratory confirmed human cases coincides quite closely with the introduction of vaccination programmes in breeder and laying flocks.
but the relationship between vaccination programmes and the reduction in human disease is compelling and suggests these programmes have made a major contribution to improving public health.
The research is published in Clinical Infectious diseases. Notes: 1. Tam CC Rodrigues LC Viviani L et al.
Longitudinal study of infectious intestinal disease in the UK (IID2 study: incidence in the community and presenting to general practice.
Gut 2012; 61 (1): 69-77.2. Wheeler JG Sethi D Cowden JM et al. Study of infectious intestinal disease in England:
rates in the community presenting to general practice and reported to national surveillance. The Infectious Intestinal Disease Study Executive.
BMJ 1999; 318 (7190): 1046-53. Laboratory reports of human Salmonella cases in the UK 1981 to 2010--Health Protection Agency;
Health Protection Scotland; Public health Agency of Northern Irelandstory Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Liverpool.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#NASA Mars rover preparing to drill into first Martian rocknasa's Mars rover Curiosity is driving toward a flat rock with pale veins that may hold clues to a wet history on the Red planet.
If the rock meets rover engineers'approval when Curiosity rolls up to it in coming days it will become the first to be drilled for a sample during the Mars Science Laboratory mission.
On earth forming veins like these requires water circulating in fractures. Researchers have used the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to examine sedimentary rocks in the area.
#Fast food diet linked to asthma and eczema severity in kids, large study findseating three or more weekly servings of fast food is linked to the severity of allergic asthma eczema
and rhinitis among children in the developed world indicates a large international study published online in the respiratory journal Thorax.
The findings prompt the authors to suggest that a fast food diet may be contributing to the rise in these conditions
and if proved causal could have huge implications for public health given the popularity of these foodstuffs.
All the participants were involved in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC)
whether they had symptoms of asthma (wheeze); rhinoconjunctivitis (which produces a runny or blocked nose accompanied by itchy and watery eyes);
and eczema; and their weekly diet. Questions focused particularly on the severity of symptoms over the preceding 12 months--including frequency
but a fast food diet was associated still with symptoms across all centres--except for current eczema
--and poorer countries--except for current and severe asthma. And this difference might have to do with the fact that children have fewer options about their food choices suggest the authors.
Three or more weekly servings were linked to a 39%increased risk of severe asthma among teens and a 27%increased risk among children as well as to the severity of rhinitis and eczema overall.
On the other hand fruit seemed to be protective in both age groups across all centres for all three conditions among children--both current and severe--and for current and severe wheeze and rhinitis among the teens.
If the associations between fast foods and the symptom prevalence of asthma rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema is causal then the findings have major public health significance owing to the rising consumption of fast foods globally they conclude.
The above story is provided based on materials by BMJ-British Medical Journal. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
In one scenario an athlete was given heroic qualities such as working with ill children a commitment to the cause of cancer prevention dedicating his performance to his mother
In the second scenario the athlete was imbued with unfavorable qualities such as testing positive for performance enhancing drugs being arrested for public intoxication
The unexpected disturbance pattern showed a long slow decline of tree health over years followed by slow regrowth.
You sort of squint your eyes and it takes a while and all of a sudden you get that moment--boom!
but it does put it under a lot of stress. If budworms return in following years trees will ultimately succumb to the onslaught and die.
Research published last year in the New england Journal of Medicine reported a strong association between a nation's chocolate consumption
The above story is provided based on materials by BMJ-British Medical Journal. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
or fighting public health measures such as plain packaging they suggest. Given the wider health benefits that would also be generated
and also the political benefits inherent to not changing the price that consumers pay this policy should be given serious consideration they conclude adding that
The above story is provided based on materials by BMJ-British Medical Journal. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Those factors play a bigger role than even skin colour and exposure to the sun according to Dr. Jonathon Maguire a researcher and pediatrician at St michael's Hospital.
and maintaining optimal Vitamin d levels in early childhood may be important to health outcomes in later childhood
and adulthood Dr. Maguire said. His research was published January 14 in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
Vitamin d deficiency is a risk factor for a number of illnesses including asthma and allergies in children.
Severe deficiency can cause rickets a softening of bones. Yet dietary records of Canadian infants show that at 12 months they are receiving only 11 per cent of their recommended daily allowance of Vitamin d through food such as oily fish fortified dairy products and cereals.
The rest needs to be obtained through other means such as supplements or when the skin is exposed to the sun's ultraviolet rays.
Dr. Maguire studied Vitamin d blood tests of 1896 health children under 6 years of age. The children were part of TARGET Kids!(
a unique collaboration between children's doctors and researchers from St michael's Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children.
The program follows children from birth with the aim of preventing common nutrition problems in the early years and understanding their impact on health and disease later in life.
and cow's milk said Dr. Maguire who was surprised to find that 57 per cent of the children were taking a regular Vitamin d supplement.
Research published by Dr. Maguire in the journal Pediatrics in December found that drinking two cups of cow's milk per day was enough to maintain adequate Vitamin d levels in most children.
The study published January 14 was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the St michael's Foundation.
The above story is provided based on materials by St michael's Hospital. The original article was written by Leslie Shepherd.
as a result of the beetle epidemic said Lewis also a faculty member in CU-Boulder's ecology and evolutionary biology department.
and Gene Likens of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook N y. The severe pine beetle epidemic in Colorado
A November 2012 study by CU-Boulder doctoral student Teresa Chapman showed the 2001-02 drought greatly accelerated the development of the mountain pine beetle epidemic.
A new study by researchers at Legacy and Harvard School of Public health provides further evidence that bold pictorial cigarette warning labels that visually depict the health consequences of smoking--such as those required under the 2009 Family Smoking
and act on health information little is known about communication inequalities when it comes to cigarette warning labels.
Interventions that have a positive impact on reducing smoking among the general population have often proven ineffective in reaching disadvantaged groups worsening tobacco-related health disparities said Jennifer Cantrell Drph MPA
and Assistant Director for Research and Evaluation at Legacy a national public health foundation devoted to reducing tobacco use in the U s. It's critical to examine the impact of tobacco policies such as warning labels across demographic groups.
Senior author Vish Viswanath associate professor of society human development and health at Harvard School of Public health said There is a nagging question
The evidence from this paper shows that this new policy of mandated Graphic Health Warnings would benefit all groups.
Given the disproportionate burden of tobacco-related disease faced by the poor and minorities mandating strong pictorial warnings is an effective and efficient way to communicate the risk of tobacco use.
and suffer disproportionately from tobacco's health consequences studies like this show us that graphic warning labels can help us reach these subgroups in a more effective way ultimately saving more lives.
The above story is provided based on materials by Harvard School of Public health. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Diet may not impact certain health outcomes in older personseating diets high in sugar and fat may not affect the health outcomes of older adults ages 75
and up suggesting that placing people of such advanced age on overly restrictive diets to treat their excess weight
of which may contribute to obesity are associated with adverse medical conditions and health outcomes for many people but until now the health effects of these types of poor diets have not been characterized for people who live to 75 years of age and older said Pao Ying Hsao postdoctoral fellow
at Penn State. The team's research is part of a decades-long collaborative study between Penn State and the Geisinger Healthcare System on the effects of nutritional status and diet on the health of more than 20000 older people
living in Pennsylvania. In the current study the team followed 449 individuals for five years who were on average 76.5 years old at the beginning of the study.
This is one of the first studies to examine obesity-related health outcomes and dietary patterns in such aged persons Jensen said.
The health-conscious pattern was characterized by relatively higher intakes of pasta noodles rice whole fruit poultry nuts fish and vegetables and lower intakes of fried vegetables processed meats
Using outpatient electronic medical records the researchers identified whether the participants developed cardiovascular disease diabetes mellitus hypertension (high blood pressure) and metabolic syndrome during the five-year period.
They found no relationship between dietary pattern and prevalence of cardiovascular disease diabetes metabolic syndrome or mortality in the participants;
however they did find an increased risk of hypertension in people who followed the sweets and dairy pattern.
The results appeared in this month's issue of the Journal of Nutrition Health and Aging.
However people who live on prudent diets all their lives are likely to have better health outcomes.
Donna Coffman research assistant professor of health and human development at Penn State; Terryl Hartman professor of nutrition at Penn State;
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