Our result revealing that this pesticide causes bees to hatch out at a smaller size is of concern as the size of workers produced in the field is likely to be a key component of colony success with smaller bees being less efficient at collecting nectar
Bumblebees are essential to our food chain so it's critical we understand how wild bees might be impacted by the chemicals we are putting into the environment.
and Genomics (UPM-INIA) and led by Araceli DÃ az Perales has studied the allergy to peach the most common food allergy and the Pru p 3 protein.
Currently the treatment of food allergy consists of avoiding the intake of the food causing the allergy.
However the possibility of cross-reactivity (reaction to related food) might be ineffective. The specific immunotherapy is the only treatment to prevent more severe signs of allergy progression.
The most common food allergy in Spain and the Mediterranean areas is the peach allergy
The current treatment of this allergy consists of avoiding peach consumption neither fresh nor processed peaches (juices jam.
which CO2 in the atmosphere stimulates photosynthesis (like soya peanuts and a majority of plants including all trees).
The importance of a season of regular rainthe effect of rainfall change on cotton yield also differs from that of crops such as maize sorghum and millet.
While they are vital to our diet the long chains of natural polymeric carbohydrates that make up dietary fibre are impossible for humans to digest without the aid of our resident bacteria says UBC professor Harry Brumer with UBC
and economic service which is relevant for our food security. Annually in Europe more than 24 million honey bee colonies contribute to the production of 130000 tons of honey
This great extinction event also disrupted forests in which the dinosaurs had lived with mostly low diversity and greatly disrupted food webs for millions of years.
which is grown widely everywhereâ#said Alan Pepper an associate professor in the Texas A&m Department of biology and senior author of the paper that was led by a former Texas A&m graduate student now in Uzbekistan. â#oethis will increase the competitiveness of natural cotton fibers versus synthetic fibers
and pests. â#oefor a long time cotton breeders have been trying to develop upland cotton with the fiber qualities of barbadense cottonâ#Pepper said. â#oeglobally everybodyâ##s trying to do it.
A major criticism of GMOS Pepper notes focuses on cases where genes from other species â#even bacterial ones â#have been added to an organism to achieve a desired trait.
and the weed killer to farmers. â#oewhat weâ##re doing is a little differentâ#Pepper said. â#oeweâ##re not actually adding in a gene from another species. Rather weâ##re knocking down the effect of one
#or interfere with expression of that gene Pepper said. â#oethis was pure basic science seeking to understand the biological function of a geneâ#Pepper said. â#oeand sure enough the phytochrome â#knock-downâ##plants had all these phenotypic
turn off the juice and the buckyball goes back to normal he said. The researchers used a combination of experimentation
#Finally, a way to authenticate premium chocolatefor some people nothing can top a morsel of luxuriously rich premium chocolate.
But until now other than depending on their taste buds chocolate connoisseurs had no way of knowing whether they were getting
In ACS'Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry scientists are reporting for the first time a method to authenticate the varietal purity and origin of cacao beans the source of chocolate's main ingredient cocoa.
Dapeng Zhang and colleagues note that lower-quality cacao beans often get mixed in with premium varieties on their way to becoming chocolate bars truffles sauces and liqueurs.
Researchers have found ways to verify through genetic testing the authenticity of many other crops including cereals fruits olives tea
The plants provide food and accommodation in the form of food bodies and nectar as well as hollow thorns which can be used as nests.
The ants return this favor by protecting the plants against herbivores. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena Germany have now found that ants also keep harmful leaf pathogens in check.
The ants depend completely on their host plants for nectar and the food bodies rich in proteins and lipids which they require.
The acacia also provides shelter the so-called domatia in the hollows of its swollen thorns.
#New evidence of Nordic grog discovered in Scandinaviaa blazing fire was not the only thing to keep Bronze
From northwest Denmark circa 1500-1300 BC to the Swedish island of Gotland as late as the first century AD Nordic peoples were imbibing an alcoholic grog
or extreme hybrid beverage rich in local ingredients including honey bog cranberry lingonberry bog myrtle yarrow juniper birch tree resin
and/or rye--and sometimes grape wine imported from southern or Central europe. New research published in the Danish Journal of Archaeology examines evidencederived from samples inside pottery and bronze drinking vessels and strainers from four sites in Demark and Sweden.
The research proves the existence of an early widespread and long-lived Nordic grog tradition one with distinctive flavors
and probable medicinal purposes--and the first chemically attested evidence for the importation of grape wine from southern or Central europe as early as 1100 BC demonstrating both the social and cultural prestige attached to wine and the presence
and Romans the early Scandinavians northern inhabitants of so-called Proxima Thule emerge with this new evidence as a people with an innovative flair for using available natural products in the making of distinctive fermented beverages
or central Europeans drinking their preferred beverages out of imported and often ostentatiously grand vessels.
and drinking the southern beverage of preference grape wine though sometimes mixed with local ingredients.
The bucket was part of a standard imported Roman wine-set and the woman held the strainer-cup in her right hand.
and interior of a strainer-cup again part of imported Roman wine-set provided the fourth sample.
According to Dr. Mcgovern the importation of southern wine grew apace in the Bronze and Iron ages and eventually eclipsed the grog tradition--but never completely.
Many of the ingredients in Nordic grog went on to be consumed in birch beer and as the principal bittering agents (so-called gruit) of medieval beers before hops gained popularity and the German purity law (Reinheitsgebot)
which limited ingredients of beer to barley hops and water was enacted in Bavaria in 1516
and eventually became the norm in Northern europe. About the closest thing to the grog today is produced on the island of Gotland in the Baltic sea Dr. Mcgovern noted.
You can taste Gotlandsdryka in farmhouses. It's made from barley honey juniper and other herbs like those in the ancient version.
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#Ramularia and the 4 Rsthe gene that has provided spring barley with resistance to powdery mildew for over 30 years increases susceptibility to newly-important disease Ramularia leaf spot.
Beta-agonists, the environment and cattle feed intakegrowing cattle that are more efficient in converting feed to muscle is a main goal in the beef industry.
Many cattle producers feedlot operators and researchers strive to use genetics and modern feedlot technologies to continuously improve that efficiency.
Chris Reinhardt feedlot specialist for Kansas State university is one of those researchers seeking to find solutions to improve efficiency in cattle production.
Reinhardt has looked specifically at how beta-agonists a cattle feed supplement approved by the U s. Food
and Drug Administration and considered safe from a food safety perspective improve the cattle's natural ability to convert feed into more lean muscle.
Beta-agonists increase the deposition of lean muscle on the carcass Reinhardt said. They make cattle more efficient at converting grain to muscle.
They also improve the efficiency of converting an animal carcass into sellable meat. Zilmax formally known as zilpaterol hydrochloride is one of only two beta-agonists approved for cattle feeding on the market.
if beta-agonists particularly Zilmax affect cattle feed intake. Over the past few years on certain occasions feedlots have seen where Zilmax was started in the feed
and cattle would fall off on intake Reinhardt said. Sometimes the intake would come back to normal
Reinhardt has looked at data from three separate commercial feedlots over the past three years and studied some of the differences in feed intake in 1100 pens of cattle.
He looked at the dry matter intake prior to and through the end of the cattle-feeding period.
when Zilmax was brought into the feed rations the sex and weight of the cattle and the location of the feedlot to try to filter out any common factors
when the cattle did did or not lose feed intake. The data analysis uncovered two main findings.
First season played a role in the drop-off in feed intake. Second cattle that were consuming more feed prior to the initiation of Zilmax had a much higher likelihood of losing intake
and the size of the intake drop-off was larger. The drop-off was quite a bit larger in the summertime than in the other seasons Reinhardt said.
In spring and fall there was very little change in intake. What pens did fall off on intake for the most part actually recovered back to normal.
On the issue surrounding big-eating cattle falling off more on intake once Zilmax was initiated Reinhardt said it could be
because the cattle that are feed eating more are also eating more of the drug. Really we don't know the economic impact from these intake losses Reinhardt said.
Advice for feedlot operatorsreinhardt said it will take more research to make specific recommendations on using beta-agonists to cattle feeders
when Zilmax will return to the market many feedlots might have switched to using a competing beta-agonist called Optaflexx or ractopamine.
The transition from one product to another Reinhardt said hasn't been a huge challenge for many feedlot operators
I hope we continue to have the opportunity to utilize technologies in our feedlot community Reinhardt said.
But I hope we use them with the best information available to help feedlots be more profitable and sustainable.
and food safety while keeping food affordable for consumers is top-of-mind for many farmers
As consumers shop at their local grocery stores and markets they might notice that beef products are double
or triple the price of other protein sources and rightfully so might hold beef to an even higher standard of excellence said Dan Thomson Kansas State university veterinarian professor and director of the Beef cattle Institute.
Beef is one of the purest most wholesome and most humanely raised forms of protein that we produce worldwide Thomson said.
As a beef industry we are being asked day in and day out to take a holistic view of technology.
The use of beta-agonists in cattle feeding is among the modern feedlot technologies making waves in the beef industry.
K-State researchers including Thomson are among the many researchers who are examining how beta-agonists affect cattle performance
and how the feed supplement might cause cattle particularly in the summer months to be slow-moving and stiff-muscled once they arrive at packing facilities.
We're going to learn more about the last 30 days on feed Thomson said of research on beta-agonists.
History of beta-agonist usefeedlots have used beta-agonists a cattle feed supplement approved by the U s. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) and considered safe from a food safety perspective to improve the cattle's natural ability to convert feed into more lean muscle.
A closer look at cattle fatigue syndromethe beef industry has a really good start on understanding
Advice for feedlot operatorsthomson said that he is very pro-technology. While Merck recently announced that it is too early to determine
and the Five-Step Plan for Responsible Beef) many feedlots might have switched to using a competing beta-agonist called Optaflexx or ractopamine.
Many spiders recycle their webs by eating them and would include any particles and chemicals that are drawn electrically to the web.
whether they might also use them to avoid webs and thus becoming dinner.''Electrical disturbances caused by spider webs are ranged extremely short so it is not yet clear
obesityscientists have known for the past twenty years that a fiber-rich diet protects the organism against obesity
and the Universitã Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (Unitã Inserm 855 Nutrition et Cerveau) has succeeded in elucidating this mechanism
and the ability of the intestine to produce glucose between meals. These results published in the journal Cell on 9 january 2014 also clarify the role of the intestine
They will give rise to new dietary recommendations to prevent diabetes and obesity. Most sweet fruit and many vegetables such as salsify cabbage or beans are rich in so-called fermentable fibers.
animals fed a fiber-rich diet become less fat and are less likely to develop diabetes than animals fed a fiber-free diet.
The team headed by Gilles Mithieux CNRS researcher in the Nutrition et Cerveau unit (Inserm/Universitã Claude Bernard Lyon 1) wondered
The intestine is in fact capable of synthesizing this sugar and releasing it into the blood stream between meals and at night.
However glucose has particular properties: it is detected by the nerves in the walls of the portal vein
and last but not least the liver produces less glucose. In order to make the connection between fermentable fibers and the production of glucose by the intestine the researchers subjected rats
and mice to diets enriched with fermentable fibers or with propionate or butyrate. They then observed a strong induction of the expression of genes and enzymes responsible for the synthesis of glucose in the intestine.
-and sugar-rich diet but supplemented with fibers became less fat than control mice and were protected also against the development of diabetes thanks to significantly increased sensitivity to insulin.
The work out in Current Biology looked into the mechanism that allowed gregarious locusts to change their diet surprisingly fast--just a few hours after solitarious locusts are crowded they are eating toxic plants
Although gregarious animals later recover this capacity their diet is affected not because at this point the food taste is no longer an important deciding factor.
In fact in a swarm of millions of individuals competing for little food taste is probably the least essential criteria.
The research provides new insights on how the environment can affect gene expression and on insects'extraordinaire adaptability.
Most importantly to understand better how the desert locust adapts is to get a step closer to find a way to stop the swarms that every year endanger as much as 10%of the world food resources.
and enough food becomes available to trigger their multiplication. Then as their numbers increase food exhaustion
and physical contact with other locusts as result of their crowding triggers a cascade of metabolic and behavioral changes that lead to their transformation into the gregarious form that goes to form the swarms.
The changes in diet were particular puzzling to scientists since food is a crucial survival tool and an adaptation to the animal's specific life story and ecology.
Although the new diet improved the survival chances of the animal in the swarm by increasing the range of food available
and its protection against predators (toxic plants make locusts unpalatable) how could such major adaptation occur in just a few hours?
and colleagues exploited the locust's ability to associate an odour with a reward--which in the wild allows it to make quick food choices--to study the memory
They used a protocol similar to the one in Pavlov's dog experiments (where a dog is conditioned to associate a bell with being fed) using vanilla (the locusts'favourite) and lemon odours.
But in this case the locusts were taught to link a vanilla odour with unpalatable nicotine food (so with a negative/aversive stimulus) or instead lemon with a nutritious diet (positive stimulus).
) Since locusts prefer the smell of vanilla to lemon if after training they chose lemon the conditioning had been successful.
--while solitarious and gregarious locusts had no problem gaining negative memories (so being conditioned to link vanilla to the unpalatable diet)
In contrast all 3 stages gained without problems the positive/appetitive memories (to link the lemon odour to nutritious food.
but they still did not explain how the gregarious animals changed their diet so fast.
To start the animals were taught to associate vanilla with hyoscyamine but this time while solitarious locusts learned to avoid vanilla--so gained the negative memory--neither transiens nor gregarious locusts could do it.
In fact to these two forms hyoscyamine seemed to even be neutral or appetitive. While this was clearly advantageous
To test for this possibility the researchers used a slightly different protocol--solitarious locusts were trained to associate hyoscyamine not with a vanilla but with the lemon odour.
since locusts normally chose vanilla they will only go for lemon if hyoscyamine has a strong appetitive value.
Remarkably now the majority of transiens locusts (so those that have been crowded) chose lemon over vanilla in comparison with only one third of solitarious non-crowded locusts showing that they in fact see hyoscyamine as appetitive.
This capacity to override previous memories which only occurs during the initial stages of gregarization/crowding is crucial for survival in the swarm because with increasing numbers of individuals also raises not only competition for food but also exposure to predators.
This suggest that the gregarious'learning mechanism is post-ingestive and most probably dependent on food toxicity instead of taste.
and travel 200 kilometres a day while eating everything at its passage it is easy to understand why it is so crucial to find new ways to stop them.
and lead to sustainable intensification of food production that we must achieve to meet the demands on the planet's finite resources.
In addition different diets mean that cows can produce the same amount of milk with lower emissions.
It is possible to imagine cutting emissions from cattle by a fifth using a combination approach in which you would breed from lower-emitting cattle as well as changing their diets Garnsworthy said.
She said changed diets will affect methane production directly but better genotypes alongside better diets will create a positive synergy for lower emissions.
Over the longer term better genotypes will mean lower cost if special diets are needed not.
But Garnsworthy warns that the project which has two years to run is not a simple one.
Over time it could improve practice with beef as well as milk herds and with other ruminants such as sheep deer and goats.
Eat a healthy diet. Obesity is a risk factor for many cancers including esophagus pancreas colorectal and breast cancers.
Besides eating well to maintain a healthy weight foods like fruits vegetables and whole grains are linked to reduced cancer risk.
Limiting red meats and processed meats can lower your risk of colorectal cancer. Many specific foods like leafy green vegetables
or blueberries have been shown to have specific anticancer actions. TAKE ACTION: Eat vegetables fruits whole grains
and lean meats to maintain a healthy weight. If you are looking for extra help in starting down the path of healthy eating visit eatright. org the website for the Academy of Nutrition
and Dietetics to find a registered dietician in your area.##3: Exercise. Staying active has many health benefits including lowering your risk of developing cancer.
#4 Limit Your Alcohol. While some studies suggest potential health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption the evidence is clear that excessive alcohol intake is bad for your health
and specifically can raise certain types of cancer risk. For women even a few drinks a week may increase breast cancer risk.
Even overuse of mouthwash which contains alcohol Varvares says has been linked to mouth cancer. TAKE ACTION:
Take a realistic look at your alcohol consumption and consider whether it falls within the recommended range:
two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women.##5: Wear Sunscreen and Avoid Tanning Beds.
As many as one in five Americans will develop skin cancer during their lifetime. Sunscreen which blocks dangerous rays from the sun is your best bet to avoid skin cancer.
Bacteria that cause the formation of these nodules in legumes such as soybeans alfalfa and peanuts are crucial to sustainable agricultural systems Hirsch said.
An Oxford university study has concluded that our ancient ancestors who lived in East Africa between 2. 4 million-1. 4 million years ago survived mainly on a diet of tiger nuts.
The study published in the journal PLOS ONE also suggests that these early hominins may have sought additional nourishment from fruits and invertebrates like worms and grasshoppers.
Study author Dr Gabriele Macho examined the diet of Paranthropus boisei nicknamed Nutcracker Man because of his big flat molar teeth and powerful jaws through studying modern-day baboons
Scholars have debated why this early human relative had such strong jaws indicating a diet of hard foods like nuts yet their teeth seemed to be made for consuming soft foods.
Previous research using stable isotope analyses suggests the diet of these homimins was composed largely of C4 plants like grasses and sedges.
whether such high-fibre foods could ever be of sufficiently high quality for a large-brained medium-sized hominin.
and this food would have contained sufficiently high amounts of minerals vitamins and the fatty acids that would have been particularly important for the hominin brain.
Her finding is grounded in existing data that details the diet of year-old baboons in Amboseli National park in Kenya--a similar environment to that once inhabited by Paranthropus boisei.
Dr Macho's study is based on the assumption that baboons intuitively select food according to their needs.
The Oxford study calculates a hominin could extract sufficient nutrients from a tiger nut-based diet i e. around 10000 kilojoules or 2000 calories a day--or 80%of their required daily calorie intake in two and half to three hours.
On the basis of recent isotope results these hominins appear to have survived on a diet of C4 foods
Yet these are not high quality foods. What this research tells us is that hominins were selective about the part of the grass that they ate choosing the grass bulbs at the base of the grass blade as the mainstay of their diet.'
'Tiger nuts still sold in health food shops as well as being used widely for grinding down and baking in many countries would be relatively easy to find.
They also provided a good source of nourishment for a medium-sized hominin with a large brain.
This is why these hominins were able to survive for around one million years because they could successfully forage--even through periods of climatic change.'
But just how do vultures know where to find food across vast regions in the first place? In a paper appearing in the January 8th edition of the journal PLOS ONE Dr. Corinne Kendall of Columbia University
For decades scientists have assumed that vultures would follow the largest food source available. In the case of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem this would be the migratory wildebeest herds
The researchers found that for the rest of the year vultures travel enormous distances in search of food.
and even used information from each other to find food but we had a poor sense of how they decide where to search on a landscape scale.
The two groups are thought to be exposed to different pollutants in the food they eat at their wintering grounds.
and limit their intake of saturated and trans fats according to an updated position paper from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The position paper Dietary Fatty acids for Healthy Adults has been published in the January issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
and dietetic technicians registered to translate research on fat and fatty acids into practical dietary recommendations for consumers.
It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that dietary fat for the healthy adult population should provide 20 percent to 35 percent of energy with an increased consumption of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and limited intake of saturated and trans
The Academy recommends a food-based approach through a diet that includes regular consumption of fatty fish nuts
and seeds lean meats and poultry low-fat dairy products vegetables fruits whole grains and legumes.
Registered dietitian nutritionists can help consumers understand that a total diet approach is more beneficial than simply reducing dietary fat
The Academy's position paper can be translated into healthful eating messages for the public: â#¢A simple and effective way to improve health is to eat more fish nuts
and seeds and to consume fewer desserts and convenience foods. â#¢Fat is a critical nutrient
and certain types of fat such as omega-3s and omega-6s are needed for good health. For this and other health reasons a fat-free diet is recommended not. â#¢Fish is an excellent source of the omega-3s EPA and DHA;
flax walnuts and canola oil are good sources of ALA omega-3. â#¢Both the amount of fat (how much) and the type of fat
(what foods) in the diet can affect health and risk of disease. â#¢Different foods provide different types of fat.
Some fats improve your health (omega-3s help your heart and brain) while some are detrimental to your health (trans fat increases heart disease risk factors).
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