Consumers may believe a label represents an environmental health or animal welfare benefit but it's difficult for them to really know.
The emerald ash borer is a small green metallic beetle that was detected first in the United states in 2002 in Detroit said Ryan Armbrust a forest health specialist with the Kansas Forest Service.
This is a tree response to stress. The differentiation between drought stress and stress from the emerald ash borer is woodpecker damage
or genes for resistance to diseases afflicting tomato plants. These stretches of genetic uniformity illustrate the need to increase overall genetic diversity in modern varieties
but this ability changes with environmental stress Long said. As for why the cordgrass seemed to overcompensate in fresh water
In the absence of this stress overcompensation kicked in. We hypothesized that when these plants aren't stressed they can compensate for their grazing by scale insects by growing more Long said.
The health of cordgrass is important to more than just clapper rails Long emphasized. It's a critical environmental element for all of us.
The technologies that our team developed to identify regulatory genes that enhance photosynthesis in C4 crops can be extended to identify control points for other processes including nitrogen and phosphate efficiency as well as a plant's response to environmental stresses like heat
Fruit mixture is not the answercan you ditch the strips and dump the dentist for whiter teeth?
From The Dr. Oz Show to Youtube videos experts say you can reclaim those pearly whites simply by mixing fruit such as strawberries with some baking soda
Unfortunately not says an University of Iowa dental researcher who compared a homemade strawberry-baking soda recipe with other remedies such as over-the-counter products professional whitening and prescribed whitening products.
because you're just removing plaque accumulation on your teeth says Kwon sole author on the study published in the journal Operative Dentistry.
Three other groups of 20 extracted teeth were subjected to other teeth-whitening procedures--mimicking teeth whitening at a dentist a prescribed tooth-whitening regimen
These acids are not whitening agents says Kwon currently in the UI College of Dentistry
and Dental Clinics who performed the experiments while at Loma Linda University in California and that explains why we have those results.
Which type of bacteria causes severe lung disease in European brown hare? Molecular biological analyses of tissue samples always confront scientists with the same problem:
how to retrieve the genome of a specific pathogen from a mixture of DNAS in a patient and its microbial cohabitants?
Capflank opens doors to completely new possibilities e g. in the genetic analysis of pathogens. We can use short preserved gene sequences to yield the genome
(or at least large sections of it) from pathogenic variants of influenza viruses for example or from completely new pathogens explains Greenwood.
and this is associated to different anatomical properties at leaves scale such as stomatal density. Researchers have found within every species a close relationship between cuticle permeability
#Fermented milk made by lactococcus lactis H61 improves skin of healthy young womenthere has been much interest in the potential for using probiotic bacteria for treating skin diseases and other disorders.
when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit to the host. Although many reports have addressed the effect of lactic acid bacteria on skin properties in subjects with skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis few studies have involved healthy humans explains lead investigator Hiromi Kimoto-Nira Phd
of the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science (NILGS) Tsukuba Japan.
The investigators conducted a randomized double-blind trial to evaluate the effects of fermented milk produced using Lactococcus lactis strain H61 as a starter bacterium (H61-fermented milk) on the general health and various skin properties
Strain H61 has been used widely over the last 50 years in Japan to produce fermented dairy products.
Season-associated effects are an important factor in skin condition says Kimoto-Nira. Skin disorders such as psoriasis and senile xerosis tend to exacerbate in winter.
Melanin provides varying degrees of brown coloration at the skin surface and melanin content is affected by internal and external factors such as age race and sunlight exposure.
Blood count and serum biochemical parameters remained similar and were within normal ranges. The change in oxidative status was the same regardless of yogurt or fermented milk consumption.
Our study enhances the value of strain H61 as an effective probiotic dairy starter concludes Kimoto-Nira.
#How deadly MERS virus enters human cellscornell University researchers have uncovered details of how the deadly Middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-Cov) enters host cells and offer possible new avenues
With MERS the primary infection is in the lungs and even there it infects additional cell types including immune cells
At present the virus does not spread easily between people except during hospital-acquired outbreaks. Societies in North africa and the Middle east have strong cultural connections to camels where there are a lot of activities that expose people to raw camel products--milk urine
--which could be the root of infection to humans said Whittaker. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Cornell University.
At two months old the girl was diagnosed with Alpha 1-antitrypsin antitrypsin deficiency an inherited disorder that causes liver disease.
The symptoms led to a startling diagnosis for Aspen: she would need a combined liver-kidney transplant for a chance at a normal life.
Initially doctors didn't realize Aspen's 6 hour and 20 minute surgery on June 29 would make history as the smallest liver-kidney transplant on record.
But recently physicians received confirmation of the historic moment which took place when Aspen was 16-months-old.
It was incredibly rewarding. We follow these children when they're small and they spend most of their lives sick said Robin Kim M d Surgical Director of Liver Transplantation at University of Utah Health care.
Now she's playful. She has a bright future ahead of being able to go to school and play sports.
The first pancreas transplant at University Hospital used to cure diabetes. The first kidney transplant in Utah using an organ from a donor with hepatitis C. The first en bloc kidney where two pediatric kidneys were transplanted into one adult.
Statistics released last year show that more patients--like Aspen and her family--are turning to the University of Utah for liver transplant services.
While the U s liver transplant program is one of the youngest in the region it has established itself as among the most successful.
In 2013 the University of Utah performed the most liver transplants in the state with 35 patients undergoing lifesaving procedures at the U. The U s liver transplant program's success isn't solely based on numbers however.
One example of the program's positive strides is a prestigious designation from the University Healthsystem Consortium for the outcomes of patients who've received a liver transplant at the U. The consortium an alliance of more than 100 academic medical centers and nearly 250
of their affiliate hospitals (which represent more than 90 percent of the nation's nonprofit academic medical centers) determined that in the past three years the University of Utah's operative death rate for its liver transplant program is zero.
The designation means that not only are more patients choosing to undergo liver transplants at University Hospital
but those who are undergoing transplants are surviving at a high rate and going on to live healthy lives after their procedures.
The approach of team care only available at an academic medical center sets the U. apart from other liver transplant programs in the region.
The U. gives patients important access to doctors from specific specialties who are able to come together to focus on the specific needs of a patient said Kim and his colleague Jeff Campsen M d. Surgical Director of Pancreas Transplantation.
The high-caliber care is appreciated by patients and their families. Aspen's mother Auchelle Daniels said she'll always be grateful to the physicians who saved her daughter's life.
Instead of spending days worrying about the toddler's deteriorating health Daniels now watches as a reenergized Aspen rides her tricycle outside swings and rocks her baby dolls to sleep.
She started to get smiley--then she started laughing. Before that point I'd never really heard her full-on laugh said Daniels of Aspen's life after her transplant.
The above story is provided based on materials by University of Utah Health Sciences. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
#Chemical derived from broccoli sprouts shows promise in treating autismresults of a small clinical trial suggest that a chemical derived from broccoli sprouts
--and best known for claims that it can help prevent certain cancers--may ease classic behavioral symptoms in those with autism spectrum disorders (ASDS).
The study a joint effort by scientists at Massgeneral Hospital for Children and the Johns hopkins university School of medicine involved 40 teenage boys and young men ages 13 to 27 with moderate to severe autism.
and verbal communication along with decreases in repetitive ritualistic behaviors compared to those who received a placebo.
We believe that this may be preliminary evidence for the first treatment for autism that improves symptoms by apparently correcting some of the underlying cellular problems says Paul Talalay M d. professor of pharmacology
We are far from being able to declare a victory over autism but this gives us important insights into
what might help says co-investigator Andrew Zimmerman M d. now a professor of pediatric neurology at UMASS Memorial Medical center.
ASD experts estimate that the group of disorders affects 1 to 2 percent of the world's population with a much higher incidence in boys than girls.
and were described first 70 years ago by Leo Kanner M d. the founder of pediatric psychiatry at The Johns hopkins university.
Unfortunately its root causes remain elusive though progress has been made Talalay says in describing some of the biochemical and molecular abnormalities that tend to accompany ASD.
He says that studies show that the cells of those with ASD often have high levels of oxidative stress the buildup of harmful unintended byproducts from the cell's use of oxygen that can cause inflammation damage DNA and lead to cancer and other
chronic diseases. In 1992 Talalay's research group discovered that sulforaphane has some ability to bolster the body's natural defenses against oxidative stress inflammation and DNA damage.
In addition the chemical later turned out to improve the body's heat-shock response--a cascade of events used to protect cells from the stress caused by high temperatures including those experienced
when people have fever. Intriguingly he says about one-half of parents report that their children's autistic behavior improves noticeably
when they have a fever then reverts back when the fever is gone. In 2007 Zimmerman a principal collaborator in the current study tested this anecdotal trend clinically
and found it to be true though a mechanism for the fever effect was identified not.
Because fevers like sulforaphane initiate the body's heat-shock response Zimmerman and Talalay wondered
if sulforaphane could cause the same temporary improvement in autism that fevers do. The current study was designed to find out.
Before the start of the trial the patients'caregivers and physicians filled out three standard behavioral assessments:
the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scale (CGI-I). The assessments measure sensory sensitivities ability to relate to others
verbal communication skills social interactions and other behaviors related to autism. Twenty-six of the subjects were selected randomly to receive based on their weight 9 to 27 milligrams of sulforaphane daily and 14 received placebos.
Behavioral assessments were completed again at four 10 and 18 weeks while treatment continued. A final assessment was completed for most of the participants four weeks after the treatment had stopped.
Most of those who responded to sulforaphane showed significant improvements by the first measurement at four weeks
and continued to improve during the rest of the treatment. After 18 weeks of treatment the average ABC and SRS scores of those who received sulforaphane had decreased 34 and 17 percent respectively with improvements in bouts of irritability lethargy repetitive movements hyperactivity awareness
what happens to those who experience improvements during a fever. It seems like sulforaphane is temporarily helping cells to cope with their handicaps he says.
Zimmerman adds that before they learned which subjects got the sulforaphane or placebo the impressions of the clinical team--including parents--were that 13 of the participants noticeably improved.
For example some treated subjects looked them in the eye and shook their hands which they had done not before.
The above story is provided based on materials by Johns Hopkins Medicine. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Dr Juha Muhonen a postdoctoral researcher and lead author on the natural atom qubit paper notes:
Another of their advantages is that they even combat other microorganisms in the soil that cause plant diseases.
and specifically to combat the impact of the Sclerotinia sclerotiorum pathogen which affects roots. In the experiment the effectiveness of other organic fertilizers like the bokashi type compost of Japanese origin will also be tested.
Because they are perennial the grassland fields can also be used year after year following best management practices that preserve the health of the soil
or inhibiting oxidation processes caused by free radicals are of interest to consumers for their health-related contributions
and to plant breeders for their ability to provide plants with natural resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.
and disease resistance scientists are now looking at ways to develop tomato cultivars that boast higher antioxidant traits.
To date wild tomato species have been used widely for improvement of tomato disease resistance but have not been explored extensively for health-related traits.
Scientists from the Department of Molecular biology and Genetics at Izmir Institute of technology in Turkey published a unique study in Hortscience that compared antioxidant traits for wild tomatoes with those of cultivated varieties.
A tax increase which results in decreased consumption and makes consumers more aware of the impact on personal health
#New increase in antimicrobial use in animals in Denmarkantimicrobial usage in animals in Denmark continued to increase in 2013--mainly due to an increased use in pigs.
However antimicrobial use in pigs is still 12%lower than in 2009. In general livestock received very little of the critically important antimicrobials
which are used to treat humans. These findings appear in the annual DANMAP report from Statens Serum Institut and the National Food Institute Technical University of Denmark.
DANMAP is integrated the Danish antimicrobial resistance monitoring and research programme. In 2013 the total use of antimicrobials in livestock
and pets in Denmark was 4%higher than the previous year when measured in kilograms.
The increased consumption is attributed mainly to a 6%increase in the consumption of antimicrobials in pig production
Distributed by species pigs account for around 78%of antimicrobial use in 2013 cattle 10%aquaculture 3%poultry 1%fur animals 4
sows/piglets (9%)weaners (5%)and finishers (5%).This is primarily due to an increased consumption of pleuromutilins and tetracyclines
which are used for group medication. However the consumption in pigs is still 12%lower than in 2009
since Danish farmers stopped using antimicrobial growth promoters. It is crucial that we reverse the increase in consumption
if we are to tackle the problem of antimicrobial resistant bacteria senior researcher Yvonne Agersã¸from the National Food Institute says.
In 2013 antimicrobial consumption in poultry increased by 57%compared to the year before. This is partly because of the wet winter
which led to more illness and--as a result--an increased consumption of tetracyclines in turkeys.
An increased occurrence of diarrhea in broilers in 2013 can partly explain the increased consumption of penicillins which are an effective treatment against diarrhea.
Antimicrobial consumption in poultry is generally low compared to other species. It accounts for only 1%of the total use.
For this reason a few outbreaks of illness can cause significant fluctuations in the annual consumption data Yvonne Agersã¸explains.
Continued low consumption of critically important antimicrobialsconsumption of critically important antimicrobials in animal production is still low.
The use of 3 kilos of cephalosporins in pig production is also low. However it does represent a significant increase compared to the year before
when total consumption of cephalosporins was 1 kilo. There has been a significant drop in consumption in cattle.
and cattle are treated with critically important antimicrobials only when absolutely necessary to help ensure these agents continue to be effective
In 2010 Danish pork producers introduced a voluntary ban on the use of cephalosporins where other effective treatment options are available.
In August 2014 the Danish Agriculture & Food Council encouraged cattle farmers to only use cephalosporins where this is the only effective treatment option.
Cephalosporins are used not in poultry production. Companion animals and horsesoverall the consumption of antimicrobials in the treatment of companion animals
and horses increased in 2013 compared to the year before. This increase was not due to an increase in the use of critically important antimicrobials as the consumption of both cephalosporins
and fluoroquinolones in 2013 was lower than the year before. However companion animals account for nearly 40%of the combined veterinary consumption of fluoroquinolones.
While it is unfortunate that we continue to see an increase in the total use in companion animals it is encouraging to see a drop in the use of antimicrobials that are critically important to humans.
The guidelines call for critically important antimicrobials to be avoided as much as possible Yvonne Agersã¸says. Facts about antimicrobial resistancetreatment with antimicrobials is intended to kill pathogenic bacteria.
Unfortunately antimicrobials also cause the bacteria to protect themselves by developing resistance to the type of antimicrobials that are used to treat them.
Resistant bacteria can be transmitted between humans and bacteria can infect each other with resistance. However resistant bacteria are poor at surviving
if antimicrobials are not present. Therefore it is important to have an overall focus on using as few antimicrobials as possible for the treatment of both animals and humans.
Bacteria know no borders therefore antimicrobial resistance in one country can cause problems outside of its borders.
As such the use of antimicrobials in both animals and humans is a global problem. Not all antimicrobials are the same.
Some are narrow spectrum and affect only individual groups of bacteria. They are used when you know which bacteria are causing the disease.
Others are broad spectrum and affect numerous groups of bacteria at the same time. They can therefore be used to treat a disease before knowing which bacteria are the cause.
However they often also kill useful and harmless bacteria such as bacteria from the intestine which may lead to the emergence of resistant bacteria.
Not all antimicrobials are equally important in the treatment of humans. WHO has declared a number of antimicrobials to be'critically important
'because they are the only or one of only a few antimicrobials which can be used to treat serious
or life-threatening infections in humans These types include carbapenems third and fourth generation cephalosporins fluoroquinolones and macrolides.
Find the DANMAP report on DANMAP's website: http://www. danmap. org/Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Technical University of Denmark (DTU.
The original article was written by Miriam Meister. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length n
In 1995 16-month old Kumari the first Asian elephant born at the National Zoo in WASHINGTON DC died of a then-mysterious illness.
whereas some identical herpesvirus strains infected both healthy and diseased animals concurrently at particular facilities the majority were different strains
and there has not been a single proven case of the same strain occurring at any two different facilities says Hayward.
In fact we also found the same disease in several Asian range countries including in orphans
and wild calves and showed that the EEHV1 strains in India displayed the same genetic diversity as those in Western zoos.
and compare the sequences of multiple segments of many different types of EEHV genomes directly from pathological blood
and nearly ubiquitous infections of Asian elephants that are shed occasionally in trunk washes and saliva of most healthy asymptomatic adult animals.
Hayward notes that only one example of a lethal cross-species infection with EEHV3 into an Asian elephant calf has been observed
and that the viruses causing disease normally do so only in their natural hosts. Close monitoring of Asian elephant calves in zoos has enabled so far lifesaving treatment for at least nine infected Asian calves says Hayward suggesting that such monitoring may ultimately enable determining why some animals become susceptible to severe disease after their primary EEHV1 infections
while most do not. About 20%of all Asian elephant calves are susceptible to hemorrhagic disease
whereas symptomatic disease is extremely rare in African elephant calves under the same zoo conditions says Hayward.
In another paper in the same issue of Journal of Virology Hayward et al. demonstrate that the many highly diverged species
and for developing therapeutic approaches to diseases caused by EEHV. Elephant populations have been plummeting. African elephants declined roughly from 10 million to half a million during the 20th century due largely to habitat destruction
lest water releases do more harm than good. Several decades of applied research guided the planning for the engineered spring flood on the lower Colorado this year
and face many threats such as coastal pollution dredging and disease. However some of their most widespread threats involve warming ocean temperatures solar radiation and increased ocean acidification.
When corals are prolonged under physiological stress they may expel the algae leading to the condition called bleaching.
Become better at solving puzzlesthe researchers found that the test subjects who drank orange juice with added tyrosine were better at solving puzzles than those who were administered a placebo.
while a placebo was added during the second visit. They were required then to solve various puzzles surrounding two main aspects of creative thinking:
and head of the Seafarm project which converts algae into eco-friendly food medicine plastic and energy.
or had higher levels of biomarkers of tobacco exposure had a higher prevalence of the sexually transmitted infection oral human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) according to a study in the October 8 JAMA a theme issue
on infectious disease. Oral HPV-16 is believed to be responsible for the increase in incidence of oropharyngeal squamous cell cancers in the United states. An association between self-reported number of cigarettes currently smoked per day
and oral HPV prevalence has been observed according to background information in the article. Carole Fakhry M d. M p h. of the Johns hopkins university School of medicine Baltimore and colleagues investigated associations between objective biomarkers reflective of all current tobacco exposures (environmental smoking and use of smokeâ less tobacco
The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) a probability sample of the U s. population.
Self-reported and biological measures of tobacco exposure as well as oral sexual behavior were associated significantly with prevalent oral HPV-16 infection.
Average cotinine and NNAL levels were higher in individuals with vs without oral HPV-16 infection.
These findings highlight the need to evaluate the role of tobacco in the natural history of oral HPV-16 infection
and progression to malignancy the authors write. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by JAMA-Journal of the American Medical Association.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference R
#Probiotics protect children, pregnant women against heavy metal poisoningyogurt containing probiotic bacteria successfully protected children and pregnant women against heavy metal exposure in a recent study.
and Probiotics led by Dr. Gregor Reid studied how microbes could protect against environmental health damage in poor parts of the world.
Their lab research indicated that L. rhamnosus had a great affinity for binding toxic heavy metals Working with this knowledge the team hypothesized that regularly consuming this probiotic strain could prevent metals from being absorbed from the diet.
Working with the Western Heads East organization Dr. Reid had established already a network of community kitchens in Mwanza Tanzania to produce a probiotic yogurt for the local population.
and toxic metals including mercury. The team utilized this network to produce and distribute a new type of yogurt containing L. rhamnosus.
The researchers measured the baseline and post-yogurt levels of toxic metals. The team found a significant protective effect of the probiotic against mercury and arsenic in the pregnant women.
This is important as reduction in these compounds in the mothers could presumably decrease negative developmental effects in their fetus and newborns according to Dr. Reid.
and lower toxin levels the sample size and duration of treatment did not allow statistical significance.
This means that stress increases for trees in peripheral areas. Especially the larger specimens die off.
Tree mortality increases so that they can't store as much carbon as healthy trees in the centre of the forest the core area says Dr. Sandro PÃ tz the main author of the study.
Dr. Andreas Huth. According to the records the coastal tropical forest with a total of eleven percent of its original surface area only takes up 157000 square kilometres
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