Study finds important genes in defense responsewhen corn plants come under attack from a pathogen they sometimes respond by killing their own cells near the site of the attack committing cell suicide to thwart further damage from the attacker.
This cell sacrifice can cause very small often microscopic spots or lesions on the plant.
and a few other responses linked to resisting attack says Dr. Peter Balint-Kurti the paper's corresponding author and a U s. Department of agriculture (USDA) professor who works in NC State's plant pathology and crop science
Balint-Kurti said the top candidates made sense as they mostly appear to be linked to defense or disease resistance.
#Piglet health: A better understanding of the immune response to intestinal parasitesparasitologists from the University of Veterinary medicine of Vienna are closer to understanding the disease process behind porcine neonatal coccidiosis.
The disease affects piglets during the first days of their life and can cause heavy diarrhea in the animals.
The parasite Cystoisospora suis damages the intestinal mucosa to such a degree that it threatens the growth and survival of the pigs.
The researchers have analysed now the immune response to the infection. The results were published in the journal Parasite Immunology.
Porcine neonatal coccidiosis is a serious parasitic infection of young piglets that severely damages the intestinal mucosa leading to diarrhea and reduced nutritional intake.
As the infection reduces animal growth and because secondary infections can result in increased mortality the disease is responsible for substantial economic losses at affected pig farms.
The developing immune system of neonatal piglets is not yet mature enough to deal with the parasites.
For this reason an infection shortly after birth results in weakened intestinal tissue with appropriate consequences.
By comparison Cystoisospora suisis absolutely harmless for adult pigs and their mature immune systems explains first author Simone Gabner.
Immune cells grow more quickly in the intestines of infected piglets than in healthy onesscientists from the Institute of Parasitology at the Vetmeduni Vienna investigated how the developing immune system of piglets responds to an infection with Cystoisospora suis.
and activates the immune system were found in infected piglets as early as four days after infection.
Cytotoxic T-cells were detected eleven days after an infection. These are responsible for the cell death of infected cells
Now we also know at which point they appear in the course and development of the disease.
and destroys the natural barrier against pathogens. This makes secondary infections likely. We still don't know
whether the T cells reduce the overall damage to the intestinal mucosa or if they perhaps cause the damage to the intestinal cells.
Just four days after infection the researchers found increased expression of certain pathogen receptors (TLR-2 and NOD2) and signalling molecules involved in inflammatory reactions (TNF-Î) in the intestine of the infected animals.
The immune response possibly begins even earlier. This is something to be investigated in future studies. We are one step closer to better understanding the disease says Gabner.
Mother's milk a source of protectionprevious studies by the research group showed that protective antibodies against porcine neonatal coccidiosis are transferred to the piglets through the sow's milk directly after birth.
Sows that had been exposed to the pathogen produced the respective antibodies from which the piglets could then benefit.
In a follow-up study the researchers went one step further. They deliberately infected sows with the parasites during gestation in order to increase the antibody levels in the maternal animals.
The aim was to supply the piglets with as many antibodies from the mother's milk during their first days of life as possible.
This milk vaccination was a success. The piglets of infected sows exhibited a less severe development of the disease than piglets of non-infected sows.
The more antibodies a sow transferred to its piglets the weaker the symptoms exhibited by the piglets.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Veterinã¤rmedizinische Universitã¤t Wien. Note:
According to records of the Institute of Ecology (INECOL) in Mexico there were six thousand cysts per kilogram of soil of the nematode
when the recommended amount by the European Organization for the Protection of Plants to not affect the crop yield is of just 40 cysts;
the only options for control of the pest farmers have had are highly toxic chemicals many of them severely restricted.
She also mentiones that the science team at INECOL also works in changing habits and customs of farmers that favor the introduction and spread of agricultural pests and diseases mainly in the region of the Cofre de Perote;
#Evolutionary tools improve prospects for sustainable developmentsolving societal challenges in food security emerging diseases and biodiversity loss will require evolutionary thinking
Inattention to this will only lead to greater challenges such as short-lived medicines and agricultural treatments problems that may ultimately hinder sustainable development argues a new study published online today in Science Express led by University of California Davis and the Center for Macroecology Evolution and Climate at the University of Copenhagen.
For the first time scientists have reviewed progress in addressing a broad set of challenges in agriculture medicine and environmental management using evolutionary approaches approaches that consider species'evolutionary histories and the likelihood of rapid evolutionary adaptation to human activities.
The study finds an urgent need for better implementation of these approaches for example in managing the use of antibiotics
Furthermore current efforts are found insufficient to reduce the accumulating costs from chronic disease and biodiversity loss two challenges ultimately caused by exposure to food and environments to
The study also assessed the potential for less commonly implemented strategies including gene therapies to treat human disease the breeding of climate change proof crop varieties such as flood tolerant rice
and translocating exotic strains for ecological restoration and forestry that will be adapted better to near-future conditions.
or pathogens may adapt rapidly to our interventions and how highly valued species including humans on the other hand are often very slow to adapt to changing environments through evolution.
Not considering such aspects may result in outcomes opposite of those desired making the pests more resistant to our actions humans more exposed to diseases
A particular worry is unaddressed that the need for management of evolution that spans multiple sectors will lead to the spread of new infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance genes between natural human health and agricultural systems.
and human health and develop a shared strategy. Many evolutionary solutions are already at handwhereas we might have to wait for new solutions from human gene therapy genetic engineering of crops
and development of new medicines to replace old ones many innovative solutions based on applying evolutionary biology already exist.
and improving human health and well-being. The article is published today in Science Express. Peter Jørgensen will also present the research at the upcoming Sustainability Science Congress in Copenhagen from October 22nd to 24th.
After this discovery the moth was sent for identification to Dr Leif Aarvik from the Natural history Museum University of Oslo who have diagnosed the species as the commonly known G. permixtana
These findings published in Scientific Reports on 11 september 2014 open new perspectives to understand the effects of probiotics on our health.
In this study we studied the effect of the product on individuals afflicted with Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) a pathology affecting 20%of the population in industrialized countries says Dusko Ehrlich who led the research at INRA.
Butyrate is known for its beneficial effects on gut health. Previous studies have shown a decrease in butyrate producing bacteria in IBS individuals.
which is thought to be involved in the development of intestinal diseases. This pilot study on 28 individuals leads to relevant and reliable scientific hypotheses relating health
and the consumption of fermented milk products containing probiotics. It also shows the potential in using new tools to analyze existing interactions between gut microbiota and probiotics.
which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health beneï t on the host beyond the common nutritional effects (FAO/WHO 2001).
and prevent or treat diarrhea. Today dozens of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli are marketed in certain foods such as yoghurts or fermented milk products.
and the University of Pittsburgh suggests that the oft-repeated adage applies not just to physical health
and his co-author William D. Lassek M d. a professor at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate school of Public health
and a retired assistant surgeon general estimated the DHA and LA content--the good fat and the bad fat--in diets in 50 countries by examining published studies of the fatty acid profiles of women's breast milk.
Back in the 1960s in the middle of the cardiovascular disease epidemic people got the idea that saturated fats were bad
#New superfoods could help key protein keep bodies healthya new generation of new superfoods that tackle heart disease
and diabetes could be developed following research into a protein that helps keep cells in our bodies healthy.
and out of the nuclei of human cells to sense the cell's health and vitality.
When Nrf2 is exposed to threats to the cell's health it oscillates faster and activates an increase in the cell's defence mechanism including raising the levels of antioxidant.
The researchers from the University's Warwick Medical school successfully increased the speed of Nrf2's movement by artificially introducing health beneficial substances--potential components of new superfoods The beneficial substances comprise broccoli-derived sulforaphane and quercetin
which are currently being trialled to decrease risk of developing diabetes and heart disease. Published by Antioxidants
When stimulated by a health beneficial vegetable-derived substance Nrf2's cycle sped up to 80 minutes.
Discussing the health benefits of the research Professor Thornalley argues: The health benefit of Nrf2 oscillating at a fast speed is that surveillance of cell health is increased
when most needed that is when cells are under threat. By understanding how this process works and increasing Nrf2's speed without putting cells under threat new strategies for design of healthier foods
and improved drugs can be devised. Current designs may have selected substances with suboptimal if not poor health benefits in some cases.
Commenting on the research Professor Andreu Palou coordinator of the EU-funded BIOCLAIMS research programme said A main nutritional challenge in Europe is to substantiate the beneficial effects of foods that are advertised to the consumers.
#Pesticides more toxic for soil organisms in dry soil, at enhanced temperaturessoil organisms react more sensitive to marketable pesticides
Singularly and combined these factors lower the toxicity threshold of fungicides for springtails. The study by scientists from the LOEWE Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (Bik-F) the Goethe University and the ECT Oekotoxikologie Gmbh was published in the September issue of the journal Applied Soil Ecology.
which the fungicide pyrimethanil may be toxic. explains Cornelia Bandow. In the framework of this study the toxic threshold refers to the concentration of the fungicide at
which the population is 50%less than in an uncontaminated soil. Thus at 26 degrees and a soil moisture of 30%the threshold was up to half of the threshold that was measured at 20 degrees and 50%soil moisture.
A risk for springtails under field conditions may not be expected as the toxic threshold of pyrimethanil is far above the maximum concentrations that may occur in soil
and a key member of a research team at Vanderbilt University that is attempting to combat malaria
and other mosquito-borne illnesses by developing new and improved attractants and repellants. In his spare time he collects interesting facts
Natural repellants such as clove oil citronella lemon grass eucalyptus castor oil peppermint lavender and cedar oil all work to a limited extent Pitts said
or another alcoholic drink he added. Some people claim that mosquitoes can fly between raindrops.
Each year 700 million people worldwide suffer from mosquito-borne diseases and millions die. Story Source:
#Combining antibodies, iron nanoparticles and magnets steers stem cells to injured organsresearchers at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute infused antibody-studded iron nanoparticles into the bloodstream to treat
heart attack damage. The combined nanoparticle enabled precise localization of the body's own stem cells to the injured heart muscle.
Although stem cells can be a potent weapon in the fight against certain diseases simply infusing a patient with stem cells is no guarantee the stem cells will be able to travel to the injured area and work collaboratively with the cells already there.
Because the heart is continuously pumping the stem cells can be pushed out of the heart chamber before they even get a chance to begin to heal the injury.
In an attempt to target healing stem cells to the site of the injury researchers coated iron nanoparticles with two kinds of antibodies proteins that recognize
Through magnetic resonance imaging we were able to see the iron-tagged cells traveling to the site of injury where the healing could begin.
The Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute has been at the forefront of developing investigational stem cell treatments for heart attack patients.
which a patient's own heart tissue was used to grow specialized heart stem cells. The specialized cells were injected then back into the patient's heart in an effort to repair
and regrow healthy muscle in a heart that had been injured by a heart attack. Results published in The Lancet in 2012 showed that one year after receiving the stem cell treatment heart attack patients demonstrated a significant reduction in the size of the scar left on the heart muscle.
Earlier this year Heart Institute researchers began a new study called ALLSTAR in which heart attack patients are being infused with allogeneic stem cells
which are derived from donor-quality hearts. The process to grow cardiac-derived stem cells was developed by Dr. Marbã¡
n when he was on the faculty of Johns hopkins university. Johns Hopkins has filed for a patent on that intellectual property
and has licensed it to Capricor a company in which Cedars-Sinai and Dr. Marbã¡n have a financial interest.
Capricor is providing funds for the ALLSTAR clinical trial at Cedars-Sinai. Recently the Heart Institute opened the nation's first Regenerative Medicine Clinic designed to match heart
and vascular disease patients with appropriate stem cell clinical trials being conducted at Cedars-Sinai and other institutions.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Cedars-Sinai Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length
#State of the Birds report assesses the health of Americas birdsone hundred years after the extinction of the passenger pigeon the nation's top bird science
and conservation groups have come together to publish State of the Birds 2014--the most comprehensive review of long-term trend data for U s. birds ever conducted.
The authors call the results unsettling. The report finds bird populations declining across several key habitats
It looks to birds as indicators of ecosystem health by examining population trends of species dependent on one of seven habitats:
and black-footed albatross are facing increasing levels of oil contamination plastic pollution and greatly reduced amounts of prey fish due to commercial fishing operations.
Species like the Bicknell's thrush a bird that breeds in the mountains in the Northeast faces rapid deforestation of its already limited wintering grounds on the island of Hispaniola.
Understanding the mechanism of enzyme tyrosinase pigmentation is currently of both medical as well as technological interest.
Integral for medicine and biotechnologythe Phd student Stephan Mauracher worked at the University of Vienna taking an essential part in this project as part of the University Initiative termed Functional Molecules.
because seed dispersal in this tropical forest is limited usually very so we would expect the offspring to grow close to the parent trees explains Dr Stephan Getzin of the UFZ.
or two even with high-performance computers explains Dr Thorsten Wiegand of the UFZ. The recently published research findings are part of the Spatiodiversity project.
A team of ten scientists led by UFZ modelling experts Dr Thorsten Wiegand and Prof. Andreas Huth have spent the last five years using computer models to analyse ecosystems to explore the composition and dynamics of species-rich communities in tropical rainforests.
#Milestone reached in work to build replacement kidneys in the labregenerative medicine researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical center have addressed a major challenge in the quest to build replacement kidneys in the lab. Working
or two hours after transplantation because blood clots developed said Anthony Atala M d. director and professor at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and a senior author on the study.
The current research is part of a long-term project to use pig kidneys to make support structures known as scaffolds that could potentially be used to build replacement kidneys for human patients with end-stage renal disease.
A patient's own cells would then be placed in the scaffold making an organ that the patient theoretically would not reject.
They found that a combination of infusing cells with a syringe followed by a period of pumping cells through the vessels at increasing flow rates was most effective.
Next the research team coated the scaffold's vessels with an antibody designed to make them more sticky
Our cell seeding method combined with the antibody improves the attachment of cells to the vessel wall
when blood flow is initiated said In Kap Ko Ph d. lead author and instructor in regenerative medicine at Wake Forest Baptist.
Using pig kidneys as scaffolds for human patients has several advantages including that the organs are similar in size
and that pig heart valves--removed of cells--have safety been used in patients for more than three decades.
This study was supported in part by Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research center at the U s army Medical Research and Materiel Command.
The above story is provided based on materials by Wake Forest Baptist Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
But this small study of hog workers in North carolina reported online Sept. 8 in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine suggests it can stick around longer.
Much of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria they carried were antibiotic resistant likely due to the use of drugs both to treat sick hogs
and even into hospitals where the bacteria have been associated with an increased risk of staph infections.
Before this study we didn't know much about the persistence of livestock-associated strains among workers in the United states whose primary full-time jobs involve working inside large industrial hog-confinement facilities says study author Christopher D
. Heaney Phd MS an assistant professor in the departments of Environmental Health Sciences and Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health.
not only how persistence of this drug-resistant bacteria may impact the health of the workers themselves
but whether there are broader public health implications. In Europe the children of livestock workers have been treated for infections caused by a new livestock-associated strain of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) that doesn't match the more widely found community-or hospital-associated strains.
This suggests the children may have been exposed to MRSA strains through their family members who worked on livestock farms.
Evidence of persistent carriage of this new livestock-associated strain and its drug resistance has led to restrictions on the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock overseas.
Statistics on the number of hog workers are tough to come by but census data from 2007 suggest that there are roughly 292000 livestock workers in the United states. In North carolina where the study was conducted there are roughly 6400 workers employed at 938 hog operations that reported hired labor.
The study done in conjunction with researchers from the University of North carolina Gillings School of Global Public health
whether the strains were traditionally found in livestock or humans and whether the bacteria were drug resistant.
while 16 of them (73 percent) carried the livestock-associated strain at some point. In contrast only about one-third of the general population carry a strain of Staphylococcus aureus associated with humans.
But 10 of the 22 workers (46 percent) were what the researchers call persistent carriers of livestock-associated Staph meaning they had these strains in their noses all
or all but one of the times they provided samples even after leaving work at the animal confinements.
Six of them persistently carried the multi-drug resistant kind of S. aureus while one persistently carried MRSA.
When they do cause infection most aren't life threatening and appear as mild infections on the skin like sores or boils.
But staph can also cause more serious skin infections or infect surgical wounds the bloodstream the lungs or the urinary tract.
Strains of staph like MRSA which are resistant to some antibiotics can be the most damaging
because they can be very hard to treat. MRSA is particularly dangerous in hospitals where the bacteria are hard to get rid of
and the people there are the most vulnerable. Heaney and the team are doing more research to see
whether hog workers with persistent drug-resistant bacteria are spreading it to their family members and communities.
We're trying to figure out if this is mainly a workplace hazard associated with hog farming
or is it a threat to public health at large he says. To do that we need to learn more not just about how long workers carry bacteria in their noses
but how it relates to the risk of infection and other health outcomes in workers their families and communities.
Funding for this study was provided by the North carolina Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research center;
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety;
Persistence of livestock-associated antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among industrial hog operation workers in North carolina over 14 days was written by Maya Nadimpalli Jessica L. Rinsky Steve Wing Devon
The above story is provided based on materials by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
The lasers will illuminate the surface with brief pulses of light that are optimized to pass through the canopy of even very dense forests without causing harm.
Their adaptive traits can be transferred to crops to improve tolerance to extreme environmental conditions and exposure to different pests and diseases
Oryza rufipogon a wild relative of rice utilised to confer tolerance to drought and aluminium toxicity;
The wild relatives of crops however contain many useful traits such as drought tolerance yield improvement and resilience to pests and diseases.
Dr Nigel Maxted lead investigator from the University of Birmingham's School of Biosciences said:'
but it is critical to conserve them in their natural habitat as they will continue to adapt to changes in the climate as well as threats from pests and diseases.''
It displaces native species affects human health and negatively impacts quality of life. Parthenium is poisonous. People who come into contact with it can suffer from skin irritations bronchial asthma and fever.
Animals that eat it can experience intestinal damage and their milk and meat becomes bitter and useless.
The Innovation Lab built a quarantine facility in 2007 to ensure that the pea-sized beetle had eyes for parthenium alone.
#Bacteria from bees possible alternative to antibioticsraw honey has been used against infections for millennia before honey--as we now know it--was manufactured
So what is the key to its'antimicrobial properties? Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have identified a unique group of 13 lactic acid bacteria found in fresh honey from the honey stomach of bees.
The bacteria produce a myriad of active antimicrobial compounds. These lactic acid bacteria have now been tested on severe human wound pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Pseudomonas aeruginosa and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) among others.
When the lactic acid bacteria were applied to the pathogens in the laboratory it counteracted all of them.
While the effect on human bacteria has only been tested in a lab environment thus far the lactic acid bacteria has been applied directly to horses with persistent wounds.
The LAB was mixed with honey and applied to ten horses; where the owners had tried several other methods to no avail.
All of the horses'wounds were healed by the mixture. The researchers believe the secret to the strong results lie in the broad spectrum of active substances involved.
Antibiotics are mostly one active substance effective against only a narrow spectrum of bacteria. When used alive these 13 lactic acid bacteria produce the right kind of antimicrobial compounds as needed depending on the threat.
It seems to have worked well for millions of years of protecting bees'health and honey against other harmful microorganisms.
However since store-bought honey doesn't contain the living lactic acid bacteria many of its unique properties have been lost in recent times explains Tobias Olofsson.
The next step is further studies to investigate wider clinical use against topical human infections as well as on animals.
but also for Western countries where antibiotic resistance is seriously increasing. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Lund University.
#Sleeping on animal fur in infancy found to reduce risk of asthmasleeping on animal fur in the first three months of life might reduce the risk of asthma in later childhood a new study has found.
and fur could have a protective effect against asthma and allergies. Previous studies have suggested that exposure to a wider range of environments from a young age could be protective against asthma and allergies.
These findings have not been confirmed conclusively in urban settings. In this new study researchers investigated children from a city environment who had been exposed to animal skin by sleeping on the material shortly after birth.
The researchers collected information on exposure to animal skin during the first three months of life along with information on the health of children until the age of 10 years.
The results showed that sleeping on animal skin was associated with a reduced risk of a number of factors connected to asthma.
The chance of having asthma at the age of 6 years was 79%lower in children who had slept on animal skin after birth compared with those who were exposed not to animal skin.
Dr Christina Tischer from the Helmholtz Zentrum MÃ nchen Research Centre said: Previous studies have suggested that microbes found in rural settings can protect from asthma.
An animal skin might also be a reservoir for various kinds of microbes following similar mechanisms as has been observed in rural environments.
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