Working in Leicester ecologist Dr Jill Edmondson from the University of Sheffield took soil samples from 27 plots on 15 allotment sites across the city.
As well as protecting soils and boosting food security own growing offers other health benefits says Edmondson: Using urban land including domestic gardens allotments
and mental health benefits and can provide access to sustainably produced fruit and vegetable crops without the associated food miles.
We seem to have found genetic footprints of the retreat of dwarf birch into its current refuges in the Scottish Highlands said Dr Richard Buggs Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary's School of Biological
but the other biomes have been shortchanged in the process notes Dr. Macedo. Only 50%of the Cerrado forest remains intact
Allowing that to happen would be an environmental disaster emphasizes Dr. Macedo. Despite big losses for the environment the law also introduced two key conservation measures that could pave the way for commoditizing standing forests in all biomes.
According to Dr. Coe No other country has attempted a registry of this scale. By allowing greater transparency the system has the potential to help improve compliance
Unfortunately for children who play youth baseball eating unhealthy food during practices and games may be contributing to weight problems according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical center.
and positive health behaviors the food environments are characterized often by less healthy food options with high calorie contents
and lower nutrient densityâ#said Joseph Skelton M d. associate professor of pediatrics at Wake Forest Baptist and senior author of the study.
and research program manager of Brenner FIT a multidisciplinary pediatric obesity program at Wake Forest Baptist. â#oebut as seen in this study games
The above story is provided based on materials by Wake Forest Baptist Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Dr Ed Mitchard of the University of Edinburgh's School of Geosciences said: Satellite maps of the world's forests don't contain enough information about their carbon content.
and analysed by PCR a standard method that can be carried out today by any medical lab at minimal expense.
and oft-studied plant Arabidopsis puts out a molecular signal that invites an attack from a pathogen.
This signaling system triggers a structure in bacteria that actually looks a lot like a syringe
It's exciting to learn that metabolites excreted by the host can play a role in triggering this system in bacteria said Thomas Metz an author of the paper and a chemist at the Department of energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
In tomatoes the infection leads to unsightly brown spots. Peck's team at the University of Missouri had discovered a mutant type of the plant known as Arabidopsis mkp1
which is resistant to infection by Pseudomonas syringae. The Missouri and PNNL groups compared levels of metabolites in Arabidopsis to those in the mutant mkp1 form of the plant.
Peck's group used those findings as a guide to find the compounds that had the biggest effect--a combination that invites infection.
Since the resistant plants don't have high levels of these acids it stops the bacteria from unfurling the syringe in the presence of the plant.
But when the combination of acids is introduced onto mkp1 it quickly becomes a target for infection.
Our results now show that the plant can also disguise itself from pathogen recognition by removing the signals needed by the pathogen to become fully virulent.
The same molecular machinery employed by Pseudomonas syringae is used also by a host of microbes to cause diseases that afflict people including salmonella the plague respiratory disease and chlamydia.
and are more resistant to infection. Also a better understanding of the signals that microbes use helps scientists who rely on such organisms for converting materials like switchgrass and wood chips into useable fuel.
There isn't a single solution for disease resistance in the field which is part of the reason these findings are said important Peck.
Scientists use the satellite-derived greenness of forest regions as one indicator of a forest's health.
but in this case it likely posed an extra stress on the plants from the resulting depletion of soil moisture.
The nanoreporter is sized based on nanometer carbon material developed by a consortium of Rice labs led by chemist James Tour
Limited exposure to hydrogen sulfide causes sore throats shortness of breath and dizziness according to the researchers. The human nose quickly becomes desensitized to hydrogen sulfide leading to an inability to detect higher concentrations.
Tour said chemists have synthesized fluorescent probes to detect it in the body. The Rice team capitalized on that work by using the probes to create downhole detectors for oil fields.
which is toxic and corrodes pipelines and transportation vessels Tour said. The extra steps required to turn the sour into sweet crude are costly.
Now the same team joined by chemist Angel Martã is employing thermally stable soluble highly mobile carbon black-based nanoreporters modified to look for hydrogen sulfide and report results immediately upon their return to the surface.
When pumped out of a production well the particles can be analyzed with a spectrometer to determine the level of contamination This paper is a big step
#Combination of alcohol, tobacco increases risk of esophageal cancerthe rate of developing esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) nearly doubles in those who both smoke
and tobacco in the risk of ESCC a class of esophageal cancer that begins in the flat cells lining the esophagus.
and tobacco play an important role in the development of esophageal cancer the combination of their use markedly increases their potency as carcinogens.
As a result we as physicians should focus efforts directed at controlling the burden of esophageal cancer on those who consume both of these substances said lead author Anoop Prabhu MD Advanced Endoscopy Fellow at the Icahn School of medicine at Mount sinai
Dr. Prabhu and authors Drs. Kenneth O. Obi and Joel H. Rubenstein at the University of Michigan Medical school performed a systematic literature search in multiple electronic databases
and tobacco with the risk of ESCC as alcohol use and tobacco use were both independent risk factors for the development of ESCC stated Dr. Prabhu.
According to the National Cancer Institute it is estimated in 2014 there will be over 18000 new cases of esophageal cancer in the United states and over 15000 deaths from the disease.
#Cow manure harbors diverse new antibiotic resistance genesmanure from dairy cows which is used commonly as a farm soil fertilizer contains a surprising number of newly identified antibiotic resistance genes from the cows'gut bacteria.
The findings reported in mbioâ the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology hints that cow manure is a potential source of new types of antibiotic resistance genes that transfer to bacteria in the soils
where food is grown. Thousands of antibiotic resistance (AR) genes have already been identified but the vast majority of them don't pose a problem
when found in harmless bacteria. The real worry is when these genes appear in the types of pathogenic bacteria that cause food-borne illnesses
or hospital infections Since there is a connection between AR genes found in environmental bacteria and bacteria in hospitals we wanted to know what kind of bacteria are released into the environment via this route of manure fertilization says Fabienne Wichmann lead study author and former postdoctoral researcher at Yale university in New haven Connecticut.
Farmers use raw or composted cow manure on some vegetable crops which could lead to a scenario where residual manure bacteria might cling to produce
and they or their genes might move to the human ecosystem. Is this a route for movement of these genes from the barn to the table?
The genes made a laboratory strain of Escherichia coli bacteria resistant to one of four types of antibiotics--beta-lactams (like penicillin) aminoglycosides (like kanamycin) tetracycline or chloramphenicol.
The team also found an entire new family of AR genes that confer resistance to chloramphenicol antibiotics which are used commonly to treat respiratory infections in livestock.
considering the small set of five manure samples says Handelsman who is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor.
which largely represent AR genes we see in the clinic. That might signal good news that AR genes from cow gut bacteria are not currently causing problems for human patients.
But Wichmann points out another possibility is that cow manure harbors an unprecedented reservoir of AR genes that could be next to move into humans.
and food on the table and then ending up in the clinic--to find out
so if they acquire antibiotic resistance they could pose a problem. Alternatively benign bacteria in manure might transfer resistance genes to pathogens at any point along the path--in manure soil food or humans.
We're hoping this study will open up a larger field of surveillance to start looking at new types of resistance before they show up in the clinic says Handelsman.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Society for Microbiology. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
That research found an unexpected spike in carcinogenic disinfection by-products in late summer in water treatment plants.
and immune health also are top health priorities and probiotics will play a key role in 2014 (Sloan 2014).
The majority of consumers strongly like the idea of getting their nutrition from foods with naturally occurring health benefits (IFIC 2013b.
Hispanic Health: America's 52 million Hispanics spent an estimated $6. 9 billion on functional foods in 2012 and $9. 4 billion on natural/organic foods/drinks (NBJ 2013d.
Pharma Foods: Eight in 10 consumers believe that functional foods can help prevent or delay the onset of heart disease hypertension osteoporosis
and Type 2 Diabetes while six in 10 associate it with benefits linked to age-related memory loss cancer and Alzheimer's disease (MSI 2012a).
Last year 56 percent of consumers bought foods or beverages that targeted a specific condition
and one-third believe protein boosts metabolism and aids in fat burning. Gen Zen: Today's Millennials between the ages of 14 and 33 view their food choices as healthier more expensive more natural/organic less processed better tasting and fresh (Hartman 2013c.
Millennials are also the most likely to believe that functional foods/beverages can be used in place of some medicines (NMI 2012) to relieve tiredness/lack of energy retain mental sharpness with aging stress and eye health.
#Regulating legal marijuana could be guided by lessons from alcohol, tobacco, study saysas U s. policymakers consider ways to ease prohibitions on marijuana the public health approaches used to regulate alcohol
and tobacco over the past century may provide valuable lessons according to new RAND Corporation research.
Recent ballot initiatives that legalized marijuana in Colorado and Washington for recreational uses are unprecedented. The move raises important questions about how to best allow the production sales
and the use of marijuana while also working to reduce any related social ills. A new study published online by the American Journal of Public health outlines how regulations on alcohol
and tobacco may provide guidance to policymakers concerned about the public health consequences of legalizing marijuana.
Among the issues outlined in the study are how to reduce youth access to marijuana how to minimize drugged driving how to curb dependence
and addiction how to restrict contaminants in marijuana products and how to discourage the dual use of marijuana and alcohol particularly in public settings.
The lessons from the many decades of regulating alcohol and tobacco should offer some guidance to policymakers who are contemplating alternatives to marijuana prohibition
and are interested in taking a public health approach said Beau Kilmer co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Research center
and a co-author of the paper. Our goal here is to help policymakers understand the decisions they face rather than debate
whether legalization is good or bad. The analysis details some of the questions policymakers must confront
when considering less-restrictive marijuana laws. Those questions include: Should vertical integration be allowed or should there be separate licenses for growing processing and selling marijuana?
What rules are needed to make sure a marijuana product is safe? Should marijuana be sold in convenience stories or only in specialized venues?
Should taxes be assessed per unit of weight as a percent of the price or on some other basis such as the amount of psychoactive ingredients in marijuana?
Based on the national experience with alcohol and tobacco it seems prudent from a public health perspective to open up the marijuana market slowly with tight controls to test the waters
and prevent commercialization too soon while still making it available to responsible adults said Rosalie Liccardo Pacula co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Research center
and a co-author of the paper. Of course perspectives other than public health objectives might motivate policymakers to adopt different or fewer regulations.
These are learned simply lessons from a public health perspective. The article discusses a variety of strategies used to control alcohol
and tobacco that also may be appropriate for regulation of marijuana. Those include keeping prices artificially high to curb use adopting a state-run monopoly on sales
and distribution limiting the types of products sold restricting marketing efforts and restricting consumption in public spaces.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by RAND Corporation. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Cecil H. Brown of Northern Illinois University in Dekalb Ill.;Eike Luedeling of the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi Kenya;
and disease will wipe out the entire herd. So I think outside of industrialized societies or special situations artificial selection was very weak she said.
or size differences or pathology that might plausibly be related to animals living with people. Sometimes there aren't morphological shifts that are easy to find
A low propensity or low capacity for forest management reduces options for addressing perceived problems such as low forest diversity invasive species and other insects or disease problems.
In the next 50 years the link between forests and economic and human health will grow.
and energy said Dr. Fred Davies senior science advisor for the agency's bureau of food security.
and vegetables and chronic disease prevention and pointed to research centers in the U s. that are making links between farmers biologists and chemists grocers health care practitioners and consumers.
Agricultural productivity food security food safety the environment health nutrition and obesity--they are interconnected all Davies said.
for nowseveral parasites and pathogens that devastate honeybees in Europe Asia and the United states are spreading across East Africa
and Europe--parasites pathogens and pesticides--do not seem to be affecting Kenyan bees at least not yet said Christina Grozinger professor of entomology and director of the Center for Pollinator Research Penn State.
and measure pesticide contaminants in hives and determine the genetic composition of the colonies. This is the first comprehensive survey of bee health in East Africa where we have examined diseases genetics
and the environment to better understand what factors are most important in bee health in this region said Grozinger.
The results appeared today in PLOS ONE. The researchers found that Varroa mites were present throughout Kenya except in the remote north.
The Africanized bees--the so-called'killer bees'--in The americas seem to be having no problem with Varroa or diseases so
As these new parasites and pathogens become more widespread as pesticide use increases and as landscape degradation increases due to increased urbanization farming and climate change we expect to see the combination of all these factors negatively impact the bees in the future Grozinger said.
We are seeing more and more evidence of climate events weakening trees making them more likely to succumb to insects pathogens
and disease issues we're facing. It really is a crisis situation. If we don't understand what it is we might be about to lose then we don't count the cost of loss accurately
Early herds were vulnerable to disease droughts and storms disasters that would have forced pastoralists to replenish herds from wild populations better adapted to harsh local conditions.
Two possible speed bumpsmany crops are distinguished from their wild ancestors with a suite of traits called the domestication syndrome.
#Suicide epidemic among Indias marginalized farmersa new study has found that India's shocking rates of suicide are highest in areas with the most debt-ridden farmers who are clinging to tiny smallholdings--less than one hectare
This latest work follows on from a recent Lancet study by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
and reports from the field and suggest there is a suicide epidemic in marginalized areas of Indian agriculture that are at the mercy of global economics.
The study is published recently online in the journal Globalisation and Health. Many believe that the opening of markets
The shame and stress of no longer being able to provide for their families has resulted in hundreds of thousands of male farmers
and in many cases their wives too taking their own lives by drinking the modern pesticides designed to provide them with bountiful harvests--a truly horrific end as the chemicals cause swift muscle and breathing paralysis. Added Kennedy:
and pathogens as well as provide temperature regulation and comfort. Dr. Samson added Chimpanzees like humans are highly selective
when it comes to where they sleep. This suggests that for apes there is something inherently attractive about a comfortable bed down to
and smell are par for the course for people who have undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery during
and could lead to more weight loss among patients says Lisa Graham lead author of a study by researchers from Leicester Royal Infirmary in the UK.
Their findings published in Springer's journal Obesity Surgery showed that after gastric bypass surgery patients frequently report sensory changes.
Graham and her colleagues say their day-to-day experience with patients who have undergone gastric bypass surgery suggested these changes
To this end questionnaires were sent out to patients who had undergone the procedure at the University Hospitals of Leicester between 2000 and 2011.
In total 103 patients answered the 33 questions about appetite taste and smell set to them.
Of the respondents almost all (97 percent) reported changes to their appetite after having the surgery.
Seventy-three percent of patients noted change in the way food tasted and especially in their sweet and sour palate.
Three out of every four (73 percent) patients noted that they had developed an aversion to specific foods after the surgery.
Meat products topped the list with one in every three patients steering away from chicken minced beef beef steak sausages lamb ham or bacon.
Interestingly patients who experienced food aversions enjoyed significantly more postoperative weight loss and reduction in their body mass index (BMI) compared to their counterparts without such dislikes.
what the role is that perceptual changes in the taste and smell of food play to influence calorie intake meal composition and subsequent weight loss following bariatric surgery.
Patients are counselled routinely about the potential loss of taste and smell in consenting for surgery.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Springer Science+Business Media. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#First metritis vaccine protects dairy cowscornell scientists have created the first vaccines that can prevent metritis one of the most common cattle diseases.
The infection not only harms animals and farmers'profits but also drives more systemic antibiotic use on dairy farms than any other disease.
The new vaccines prevent metritis infection of the uterus from taking hold and reduce symptoms when it does a prospect that could save the United states billions of dollars a year
and help curb the growing epidemic of antibiotic resistance. The research was published in the journal PLOS One.
Metritis develops after a cow gives birth when bacteria take advantage of the open vagina and cervix to settle in the uterus.
Infected cows suffer fever pain inflammation lack of appetite depression and reduced reproductive abilities. Metritis affects as many as 25 percent of the roughly 9 million dairy cows in the United states costing nearly $400 per case in lost productivity and treatment costs.
It is the number one cause of systemic antibiotic use which floods the whole body with antibiotics rather than just a specific region said Rodrigo Bicalho assistant professor of dairy production medicine at the College of Veterinary medicine.
Three of the vaccines Bicalho's lab created lowered metritis incidence and lessened its symptoms in the cows that received them showing promise for alternatives to antibiotics in addressing the disease.
Our lab has been developing a vaccine for years now based on our research of this disease said Bicalho.
We created multivalent vaccines complex cocktails with several components we've identified as important to causing metritis.
Bicalho and his lab researchers tested five combinations of various ingredients and delivered three subcutaneously via a shot and two intravaginally.
All three subcutaneous vaccines were effective significantly reducing incidence of disease by up to 83 percent.
Cows that were vaccinated with the subcutaneous vaccines had lower incidence of postpartum fever and puerperal metritis shorter disease periods and improved reproductive performance compared to those that did not receive the vaccines.
The powerful protection these vaccines produced surprised us. We expected some protective effect but nothing as strong as what we found said Bicalho.
An effective vaccine against uterine diseases will have a significant positive impact on the dairy industry limiting the use of antibiotics and decreasing economic losses due to these disorders.
Our next step is to simplify the complex vaccines we created by identifying which components are the most important
and removing the rest. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Cornell University.
The original article was written by Carly Hodes. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#Irrigated agriculture: precious habitat for the long-billed curlewdespite the recent rainfall California is still in a drought (snowpack 32%of average) so not only are limited water supplies
#Masculine boys, feminine girls more likely to engage in cancer risk behaviors, study findsyoung people who conform most strongly to norms of masculinity
and femininity--the most feminine girls and the most masculine boys--are significantly more likely than their peers to engage in behaviors that pose cancer risks according to a new study led by Harvard School of Public health (HSPH) researchers.
The study the first to look at cancer risk behaviors in teens based on their gender expression appears online April 16 2014 in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
and femininity heavily influence teens'behaviors and put them at increased risk for cancer. Though there is nothing inherently masculine about chewing tobacco
and physical inactivity--all risk factors for cancer--are highly prevalent among young people in America.
or boys as masculine--and cancer risk behaviors were included in the study. The results showed that boys who described themselves as very masculine in terms of their self-image
or watching television and movies played a role in promoting certain cancer risk behaviors. For instance among girls media engagement accounted for one-third to one-half of the higher likelihood of using tanning beds.
The above story is provided based on materials by Harvard School of Public health. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Pathogenic E coli binds to fresh vegetablesfood-poisoning outbreaks linked to disease-causing strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli are associated normally with tainted meat products.
Research presented today at the Society for General Microbiology's Annual Meeting in Liverpool shows that the disease-causing E coli O157:
Dr Nicola Holden who led the research says: This work shows the fine detail of how the bacteria bind to plants.
so we can reduce the risk of food-borne disease. The researchers believe that the E coli O157:
By understanding the mechanisms of how the bacteria interact with plants the researchers are hoping to find targeted ways to stop the binding reducing the risk of food contamination.
Such a strong relationship to food has had a profound impact on human health by reshaping environmental biodiversity influencing the diets of neighbors and preserving elements of culture.
In between collecting data and analyzing results they overcame the long waiting periods by being patient encouraging each other
#Rising demand for herbal medicine can increase cultivation of medicinal treesformalizing trade in herbal medicinal products has the potential to increase the demand for on-farm grown raw material and raise the level of cultivation of medicinal tree
A study carried out by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in Kenya shows that trade in herbal medicinal products is rising in the urban areas
and formalization in terms of better hygienic packaging and labeling of the products is likely to increase cultivation of these tree species. Traditional medicine is practiced in in many rural areas in the developing world.
The World health organization estimates that about 80%of Africans rely on traditional medicine a great proportion of which is herbal to meet their health needs
and this could increase because of the rising acceptability of natural therapies. The study published in the scientific journal Forests Trees
and Livelihoods says that In Kenya the majority of traditional medicines are sold as wild plant parts
but in urban areas demand for traditional medicines is rising and this is leading to increased formalization of the market with traditional medicines now found in powders liquids and creams.
Jonathan Muriuki lead author of the study and research scientist at ICRAF believes that as lifestyles improve consumers demand better quality.
This opens up greater opportunities for trade in medicinal tree products among actors in the value chain such as collectors producers healers processors manufacturers and even exporters outlines Muriuki.
Muriuki and co-authors set out to learn where medicinal plant traders in Kenya sourced their raw materials
Cultivation would not only provide a sustainable supply of medicinal products but also increase the incomes of poor smallholder farmers while addressing current problems of over-harvesting and resource degradation which have reduced the abundance of wild materials.
Their research revealed that 49 per cent of traders in herbal medicine sourced materials from farms
and fruits from their trees but are not selling medicinal tree products because they do not have access to markets Farmers stated they would sell medicinal products
if they had access to market opportunities says Muriuki. Access to markets for other tree products has led to increased cultivation of tree species providing these so it would be fair to assume the same could be applied for medicinal trees.
To improve the market in traditional medicines the study recommends linking traders to farmers in the form of grower groups especially women which could initially focus on the most traded species as alternative crops are recommended.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
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