#Banana disease spreading: Panama disease spreads among bananas againpanama disease is causing significant damage in banana cultivation in Southeast asia.
Together with a number of partners scientists from Wageningen UR (University & Research centre) have demonstrated that the disease--caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense--has migrated now also to Jordan.
This means that Panama disease is becoming increasingly widespread and major banana-producing countries in Africa
and Latin america are also under threat. A concerted international approach is needed to safeguard the food security of millions of people.
The results of the study were published in the scientific journal Plant disease. The banana is not just the world's favourite fruit--for many people it is a vital important source of food.
During the twentieth century tens of thousands of hectares of banana plantations in Latin america were destroyed by Panama disease.
Banana plants died en masse and soils are contaminated for decades. The introduction of the resistant Cavendish banana variety saved the day
Late last century however a new highly aggressive strain of the fungus was discovered in Southeast asia.
There were suspicions a few years ago that some banana plantations in Jordan were infected with Panama disease.
Subsequent DNA tests showed that the Jordan strains were identical to TR4. The scientists have established thereby that TR4 has now spread beyond Southeast asia.
It is unclear how Panama disease spread from Southeast asia. Gert Kema argues that it is only a question of time before TR4 reaches Africa.
and the introduction and spread of Panama disease would threaten the food security of millions. A concerted international approach is needed now to prevent the spread of Panama disease
and in the worst-case scenario contain it Kema states. Wageningen UR carried out this research together with the University of Florida the Jordanian National Centre for Agricultural Research and Extension and the University of Jordan.
The findings by chemists and colleagues at the Department of energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory open the possibility that laboratory research that now takes months could be reduced to days
and to subject it to a cocktail of enzymes that would convert those plants to fuel said chemist Aaron Wright who led the PNNL team.
Chemists like Wright are trying to combine and improve upon the best ones to create a potent chemical cocktail a mix of enzymes that accomplishes the task super efficiently.
and Dr Bob Scholes who have published a paper in the journal Science which describes how the productivity of many lands has been reduced dramatically as a result of soil erosion accumulation of salinity and nutrient depletion.
but gaps remainnew policy changes have led to decreased exposure to environmental tobacco smoke at work yet workers in some occupations still experience a high prevalence of secondhand smoke according to new research released today at the American Public health Association's 141st
According to the U s. Surgeon general secondhand smoke is hazardous to health and there is no safe level of exposure said Kathleen Fitzsimmons MPH lead researcher of the study.
and will focus on the creative and successful public health efforts from across the globe and discuss how public health workers can adapt these efforts to the communities they serve at home.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Public health Association (APHA. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
#First look at diverse life below rare tallgrass prairiesamerica's once-abundant tallgrass prairies--which have disappeared all but--were home to dozens of species of grasses that could grow to the height of a man hundreds of species of flowers
Professor Abbott and his team at the Department of chemistry at the University of Leicester have developed a new wood-based product similar to MDF that uses a resin based on starch from completely natural sources including potatoes.
of which is restricted due to health concerns. Professor Abbott's new resin means that the use of UF is avoided
and therefore so too are associated the concerns. With the aid of colleagues at the Biocomposites Centre Bangor University and the Leicestershire-based retail design company Sheridan
Today (31 october) Professor Andrew Abbott is awarded the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation 2013 that will help him make the critical step from prototype to product.
Professor Abbott's new material is easier to manufacture and easier to work with than current MDF boards.
The practical studies were led by Dr will said Wise who: It has been a technological challenge to develop material with the correct properties
On receiving the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation Professor Abbott said: The Brian Mercer Award is fundamental in enabling us to take this project forward to the next stage;
Professor Abbott will receive £172347 which will be used to bring the four collaborators together to create a supply chain to create prototypes for the point-of-sale market.
Professor Abbott and his group at University of Leicester are also developing new fillers for plastics based on orange and banana peel and eggshell.
This is the finding of an international team of scientists under the direction of Dr. Martin Hasselmann of the Institute for Genetics of the University of Cologne.
PD Dr. Martin Hasselmann has been the director of the research group Population Genetics of Social Insects at the University of Cologne as a DFG Heisenberg stipendiary since May 2012.
The project was born out of the vision of biofuels pioneer Dr Pete Williams of AB Agri who was convinced valuable material was being overlooked
With Dr Emily Burton of Nottingham Trent University he was able to secure funding from the EPSRC for a CASE*studentship that allowed them to develop
Project supervisor Dr Burton says the work is only just beginning: Bioethanol is already a 60-billion-litre per year global market
Dr Burton believes the project helps address an issue often raised in connection with cereal-based biofuels:
Dr Pete Williams of AB Agri the industrial sponsor of the work says: We couldn't have got this development started without the EPSRC CASE studentship that allowed us to establish the proof of concept
improve caredoctors commonly tell patients that stress can be harmful to their health. Yet when it comes to reducing their own stress levels physicians don't heed always their own advice.
Part of the problem according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical center is that medical schools don't include meditation and stress-reduction training in their curriculum.
However for the past three years all third-year students at Wake Forest Baptist have been provided guided relaxation and mindfulness meditation training known as Applied Relaxation and Applied Mindfulness (ARAM) thanks to a grant
from the U s. Department of health and human services. The training is described in the fall issue of the Annals of Behavioral Science and Medical Education.
Studies estimate that 20 to 60 percent of physicians experience burnout at some time during their careers.
This level of distress and strain can have a significant influence on the quality of care that doctors provide.
It can also decrease empathy and compassion for patients and increase the likelihood of medical errors said William Mccann Psy.
D. associate professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author of the paper.
Research has shown repeatedly that mindfulness meditation and relaxation techniques can help moderate the influence of stress Mccann said.
In every stress-management program either mindfulness or relaxation is included always to decrease both the mental and physical wear and tear caused by stress.
The goal of the Wake Forest Baptist training was threefold: to help familiarize future doctors with techniques recommended in many medical treatment plans for patients;
to reduce stress and prevent professional burnout; and to enhance performance by improving working memory and empathy and by moderating performance anxiety.
The ARAM training was composed of three sessions integrated into the third-year family medicine clerkship. According to Mccann 90 percent of the students found the class beneficial.
The practice of medicine is a stressful challenge even for our best and brightest students Mccann said.
The rate of burnout among doctors is sobering and every medical school needs to include stress-management training in their curriculums.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Wake Forest Baptist Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
#Prices, family interactions influence eating behaviorsexpanding waistlines and rising obesity rates have led to numerous ideas for policies such as taxes on junk food
or vouchers for fruits and vegetables aimed at getting people to eat a more healthful diet.
and Community Health Study led by Carolyn Cutrona a professor of psychology and others. The data collected every two to three years
since 1997 assesses how individuals families and communities affect mental health education careers and other outcomes over time.
health benefitsblueberries are called a superfood for their high polyphenol content but when served as warm gooey pie filling
or when lending bursts of sweet flavor to a muffin their super health benefits change.
Ana Rodriguez-Mateos and colleagues note that eating blueberries is associated with several health perks including improved thinking reduced risk for heart disease and reduced inflammation.
Rodriguez-Mateos'team sought to test the stability of these health-promoting compounds during cooking proofing
Due to their possible health benefits a better understanding of the impact of processing is important to maximize the retention of these phytochemicals in berry-containing-products the researchers state.
#Male birth defect weakly linked to pesticide exposurea study of several hundred chemicals used in commercial pesticides has found only weak evidence that any of them are associated with a common birth defect in male infants.
The study led by epidemiologists at the Stanford university School of medicine analyzed thousands of birth records and commercial pesticide application records for eight counties in California's heavily agricultural Central Valley.
and of those that did most of them were used infrequently said Suzan Carmichael Phd associate professor of pediatrics
and lead author of the study published Oct 28 in Pediatrics. It is good news that such exposures are rare
Hypospadias has a significant impact on public health as it often requires surgical correction. Approximately 600000 to 900000 American males alive today were born with some degree of hypospadias.
Any birth defect is concerning to parents and a defect in the genital structure often causes special concern said William Kennedy MD associate professor of urology at Stanford and associate chief of pediatric urology at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.
Parents are often reluctant to talk to anyone--even medical professionals--about the baby's condition Kennedy added.
Fortunately most corrective surgeries have positive outcomes. In addition to exposures to individual chemicals and compounds the researchers looked at exposure to multiple chemicals
but found no evidence to suggest that mothers'exposures to multiple pesticides put their babies at an increased risk of hypospadias.
whether there is or is not a real risk associated with these chemicals said Gary Shaw Drph professor of pediatrics at Stanford
Shaw Kennedy and Carmichael are also members of the Child Health Research Institute at Stanford.
Story Source The above story is provided based on materials by Stanford university Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Also a professor at UVM Ross a soil chemist wants to better understand the effects of all these earthworms on the soils of New england's Northern Forest.
#New drug to help common bowel diseasean international team led by University of Adelaide researchers has identified the mechanism of pain relief of a new drug for treating Irritable bowel syndrome with Constipation (IBS-C) based on nonclinical studies
Published in the journal Gastroenterology the study describes the pain mechanism of action for Linaclotide a recently approved drug for the treatment of chronic abdominal pain and constipation in adult IBS-C patients.
IBS is a potentially debilitating condition with abdominal pain bloating diarrhea and/or constipation. It affects up to 15%of western populations costing millions of dollars annually in Australia alone in lost productivity and health care.
Approximately one third of IBS patients are diagnosed as having IBS-C. This is a significant finding
and very good news for IBS-C sufferers says study leader Dr Stuart Brierley NHMRC RD Wright Biomedical Fellow in the University's Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory.
Abdominal pain is often the most troubling symptom to IBS patients and has been the most difficult symptom to treat.
The drug is effective in relieving abdominal pain associated with IBS-C and is already available and registered for use by IBS-C patients in the USA and Europe.
It is yet to go through the regulatory process in Australia. The research is a collaboration between the Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory (University of Adelaide) and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc the developers of Linaclotide.
Linaclotide is a new class of medicine and is the only treatment for IBS-C currently registered with the European Medicines Agency;
it is also the first prescription treatment available in over six years for adults with IBS-C in the US.
Linaclotide binds the receptor domain of guanylate cyclase-C on the inner lining of the intestines.
which it is conducting clinical trials of Linaclotide in China and Japan. Ironwood is exploring partnership opportunities for advancing Linaclotide in unpartnered territories including Australia and New zealand.
Dr Brierley in the Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory collaborated with Ironwood to further investigate how Linaclotide acts within the gastrointestinal tract to reduce abdominal pain.
However initial trials had shown that it also reduced abdominal pain associated with IBS-C independently of its action on improving constipation.
Preclinical studies by the Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory showed that Linaclotide inhibits pain nerve endings in the intestine through a novel physiological pathway localised to the gastrointestinal tract.
The study also showed the analgesic effect translated into clinical findings in humans says Dr Brierley.
IBS-C patients given the drug orally showed significant improvement in abdominal pain over those given placebo during a 26-week trial.
#New statistic model forecasts effect of tobacco consumption on childhood asthmaa scientific study recently published on International Journal of Statistics in Medical Research states that tobacco consumption must be decreased by 15%in Spain particularly at home
in order to reduce the number of childhood asthma cases. The research is signed by professors Toni Monleã n-Getino and Martã n RÃ os from the Department of Statistics of the University of Barcelona and experts Oriol Vall Carme Puig Ãcar
Garcia-Algar and Antonella Chiandetti members of the Childhood and Environment Research Group of the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM.
Asthma is the most common chronic illness during childhood and adolescence in industrialized countries. Several factors have been proposed to explain asthma.
It affects between 10%and 17%of children and teenagers in Spain. There is no treatment to cure this illness
which may decrease considerably patients'quality of life. Although its prevalence has been increasing over the last 40 years in many countries no statistical
or simulation model existed to forecast the evolution of childhood asthma in Europe. A model based on conditional probabilitythe study first presents a statistical
and simulation model--based on the theory of conditional probability--to forecast the risk of childhood asthma episodes.
The model includes several risk factors and has been designed with the data got from scientific literature
and the project Asthma Multicenter Infant Cohort Study (AMICS) developed by IMIM researchers in order to analyse the relationship between environmental factors and childhood asthma development in different phenotypes.
On January 1 2006 a law that set anti-tobacco regulations in Spain came into force.
%but this reduction did not produce any remarkable effect on asthma incidence among children. Objective:
to reduce childhood asthmatoni Monleã n Getino first author of the article explains that the statistic model indicates that childhood asthma incidence is stable.
and mothers who smoke a reduction of childhood asthma prevalence won't occur alerts the researcher who started the study together with the Italian National institute of health.
Professor Martã n RÃ os states that asthma is caused an illness by several factors (genetic propensity environment food etc.
and asthma is not a cause-effect one but tobacco even environmental smoke or the one that remains on clothes favours asthma episodes in children.
Data proves that the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma in adults has been reduced in the last years due to smoke-free policy.
In the case of children maternal smoking and environmental tobacco smoke are some of the main risk factors for inducing new cases of asthma.
UB experts point out that there is no doubt that smoking and respiratory diseases in children are related. Even if it is difficult to prove
if alterations in respiratory functions begin to occur in the fetus or if they appear later during lactation altered respiratory function has been found in those children whose mothers smoke during pregnancy
Smokeless homein epidemiology simulation models are tools that may contribute to develop more effective health policies in the field of public health.
Toni Monleã n Getino and Martã n RÃ os experts from the Multivariate and Computational Statistical Modelling Research Group of the UB and authors of other epidemiological studies
of infectious diseases (tuberculosis meningitis etc. alert that nowadays there are not enough measures to avoid children's exposure to tobacco.
It is necessary to improve health policies and raise society's awareness; efforts on the fight against tobacco particularly at home must be stronger concludes Monleã n Getino.
Implications for soil fertility crop production and human health which was posted on October 10th by Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems.
This can lead to grass tetany or milk fever in livestock but the problems don't stop there.
Low-calcium diets can also trigger human diseases such as osteoporosis rickets and colon cancer. Another major health concern arises from the chloride in KCL
which mobilizes cadmium in the soil and promotes accumulation of this heavy metal in potato and cereal grain.
I'm reminded of a recent clinical study that links cadmium intake to an increased risk of breast cancer.
#Common bioindicator resistant to insecticidesin a novel study a University of Oklahoma researcher and collaborators found a common bioindicator Hyalella azteca used to test the toxicity of water
and become an entirely unreliable source of information about ecosystem health. Gary Wellborn professor of biology in the OU College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Oklahoma Biological Station;
when used to test the toxicity of water and sediment. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Oklahoma.
The region's incredible flora and fauna is being lost to gold fever. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Carnegie Institution.
Dr. Rainer Fischer head of institute at IME in Aachen. We are investing in this highly promising materials development
Dr. Dirk Prã fer describes the research efforts at the MÃ nster-based IME site.
and thus improves the CO2 balance as Dr.-Ing. Reimund Neugebauer President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft describes the purpose and the essential advantages of the collaboration.
and other health-benefits says Zhangjun Fei a scientist from the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University.
and disease resistance Fei says. Kiwifruit originated from the mountains and ranges of southwestern China and was known not really to the world until the early 20th century
They uncovered about 8000 genes that were common among all five species. The comparison revealed important evolutionary relationships including the development genes related to fruit growth ripening nutrient metabolism and disease resistance.
now that we know another species exist within the genus comparative studies can begin to perhaps understand the attributes that make P. longicornis such a good biological invader says Dr. John S Lapolla of Towson University USA.
and that the discovery of a new species native to Africa makes Paratrechina yet another example of an ant genus that possesses an Afro-asian distribution. explains Dr. John S. Lapolla.
or introduced species of bees comments one of the authors of the paper Dr Simon Hodge from Lincoln University in New zealand.
and augmenting local populations of pollinating insects explains Dr Hodge. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Pensoft Publishers.
They play an important role in disease control of antelopes and buffalo by killing the sick animals.
As an industry that generates more foreign currency in the country than any other business this could have significant consequences for Uganda reported Dr. Andrew Plumptre WCS's Director for the Albertine Rift.
and prey said Dr. James Deutsch Executive director of WCS's Africa Program. Their loss would permanently alter two of Africa's great ecosystems.
#Bee sting allergy could be a defense response gone haywirefor most people a bee sting causes temporary pain
and discomfort but for those with a bee venom allergy the consequences can be devastating:
They experience anaphylactic shock including a drop in blood pressure itchy hives and breathing problems and may die if not promptly treated.
New findings by Stanford university School of medicine scientists may provide an evolutionary explanation for severe allergic reactions. In a paper to be published online Oct 24 in Immunity the researchers show that mice injected with a small dose of bee venom were later resistant to a potentially lethal dose of the same venom.
The study is the first experimental evidence that the same immune response involved in allergies may have evolved to serve a protective role against toxins.
The study builds on earlier work by the researchers characterizing the innate immune response to snake venom and honeybee venom.
Innate immune responses occur in subjects exposed to a foreign substance such as a pathogen or a toxic material like venom for the first time.
Immune cells called mast cells which reside in most of the body's tissues are poised to unleash signals that turn on defense responses
when a pathogen or toxin intrudes. In a previous study the researchers found that mast cells produce enzymes that can detoxify components of snake venom
and that mast cells can also enhance innate resistance to honeybee venom. Such innate immune responses do not require prior immunization or the development of specific antibodies.
By contrast during an adaptive immune response the immune system generates antibodies that recognize the invading pathogen or toxin;
this process makes it possible to vaccinate against infectious diseases. Adaptive immunity is usually a faster more specific and more effective form of defense than innate immunity.
In allergic reactions a type of antibody called Ige binds to the surface of mast cells and prompts them to initiate an adaptive immune response
when exposed to the antigen recognized by that Ige. The functions of Ige and mast cells are known mostly in the context of allergies said Thomas Marichal DVM Phd a postdoctoral scholar
and co-lead author of the study. It was kind of a dogma that most Ige-related responses are said detrimental postdoctoral scholar Philipp Starkl Phd the other lead author.
We and others speculated that there should be some very positive evolutionary pressure to keep these cells
and these antibodies because if they were just bad and deleterious they would have been eliminated. The researchers hypothesized that Ige might be required for protection against a lethal sting
and that allergies are an extreme and maladaptive example of this type of defense. This idea known as the toxin hypothesis of allergy was proposed first by Margie Profet in 1991
but was ignored largely by immunologists until recently. To find out whether adaptive immune responses could help mice resist bee venom Marichal
and Starkl first injected mice with a low dose of venom equivalent to one or two stings.
The mice developed more venom-specific immune cells and higher levels of Ige antibodies against the venom than control mice injected with a salt solution.
Three weeks later they injected both groups of mice with a potentially lethal dose of venom similar to five bee stings.
The immunized mice had less hypothermia and were three times more likely to survive than the control mice.
Moreover they did not develop the anaphylactic reactions characteristic of severe allergies. To determine whether Ige antibodies were required for this protection the team tested mice with three types of mutations:
mice without Ige mice without functional Ige receptors on their mast cells and mice without mast cells.
The Ige-deficient mutant mice were developed previously by Hans Oettgen MD Phd associate professor of pediatric immunology at Harvard Medical school
and a co-author of the study. In all three groups of mutant mice pre-immunization with a low dose of bee venom did not confer protection against a lethal dose suggesting that the protection depends on Ige signaling and mast cell activation.
That was pretty exciting for us said Marichal. It was the first time we could see a beneficial function for these Ige antibodies.
Pre-immunization with a low dose of venom from the Russell's viper also protected mice from a higher dose of venom from this snake which is one of the big four species responsible for most snakebite
deaths in India. So the researchers believe the response could be generalized to different types of toxic venoms.
Our findings support the hypothesis that this kind of venom-specific Ige-associated adaptive immune response developed at least in evolutionary terms to protect the host against potentially toxic amounts of venom such as would happen
if the animal encountered a whole nest of bees or in the event of a snakebite said Stephen Galli MD professor and chair of pathology and the co-senior author of the study.
Anaphylaxis probably represents the extreme end of a spectrum of Ige-associated reactivity which in some unfortunate individuals is regulated either poorly
or excessively robust so the reaction itself can become dangerous to them. Galli cautioned that it's not yet known
whether Ige responses also protect humans from the toxic effects of arthropod or reptile venom but it would be unthinkable to test lethal doses of venom in humans.
Reptile and arthropod venoms are complex chemical cocktails. Some venom components have evolved to mimic chemicals made by the human body such as endothelin-1
which causes blood vessels to constrict during bacterial infections. At the same time mammals have evolved immune responses to venom which in some cases escalate into maladaptive allergic reactions.
We experience allergies in a much cleaner world where we don't have the same threats of venomous creatures
and potentially toxic food that existed for much of our evolutionary history said Galli. And so we're left with this residual type of reactivity that seems completely mysterious and pointless and harmful.
This is the first evidence that we know of indicating that Ige-associated'allergic-type'immune responses can actually reduce the toxicity of naturally occurring venoms.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Stanford university Medical center. The original article was written by Molly Sharlach.
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