Researchers discover new hormone spurring beta cell production Researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) have discovered a hormone that holds promise for a dramatically more effective treatment of type 2 diabetes, a metabolic illness afflicting an estimated 26 million Americans. The researchers believe that the hormone might also have a role in treating type 1, or juvenile, diabetes.
Agriculture Source: Harvard University
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Friday, Apr 26, 2013, 11:45am Rating: | Views: 3255 | Comments: 0
Quest for edible malarial vaccine leads to other potential medical uses for algae Can scientists rid malaria from the Third World by simply feeding algae genetically engineered with a vaccine? That's the question biologists at UC San Diego sought to answer after they demonstrated last May that algae can be engineered to produce a vaccine that blocks malaria transmission.
Agriculture Source: University of California - San Diego
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Monday, Apr 22, 2013, 10:00am Rating: | Views: 3323 | Comments: 0
Study reveals seasonal patterns of tropical rainfall changes from global warming Projections of rainfall changes from global warming have been very uncertain because scientists could not determine how two different mechanisms will impact rainfall. The two mechanisms turn out to complement each other and together shape the spatial distribution of seasonal rainfall in the tropics, according to the study of a group of Chinese and Hawaii scientists that is published in the April 1
Agriculture Source: University of Hawaii ‑ SOEST
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Tuesday, Apr 16, 2013, 2:45pm Rating: | Views: 1989 | Comments: 0
Study shows different brains have similar responses to music Do the brains of different people listening to the same piece of music actually respond in the same way? An imaging study by Stanford University School of Medicine scientists says the answer is yes, which may in part explain why music plays such a big role in our social existence.
Agriculture Source: Stanford University Medical Center
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Thursday, Apr 11, 2013, 10:15am Rating: | Views: 1833 | Comments: 0
People buy more soda when offered packs of smaller sizes than if buying single large drink People buy larger amounts of soda when purchasing packs of smaller drinks than when offered single servings of different sized drinks, according to research published April 10 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Brent M. Wilson and colleagues from the University of California, San Diego.
Agriculture Source: Public Library of Science
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Thursday, Apr 11, 2013, 10:00am Rating: | Views: 2005 | Comments: 1
Video: Shedding light on a gene mutation that causes signs of premature aging Research from Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute sheds new light on a gene called ATRX and its function in the brain and pituitary. Children born with ATRX syndrome have cognitive defects and developmental abnormalities. ATRX mutations have also been linked to brain tumors. Dr. Nathalie Bérubé, PhD, and her colleagues found mice developed without the ATRX gene had problems
Agriculture Source: University of Western Ontario
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Tuesday, Apr 09, 2013, 1:45pm Rating: | Views: 2273 | Comments: 0
Pesticide combination affects bees' ability to learn Two new studies have highlighted a negative impact on bees' ability to learn following exposure to a combination of pesticides commonly used in agriculture. The researchers found that the pesticides, used in the research at levels shown to occur in the wild, could interfere with the learning circuits in the bee's brain. They also found that bees exposed to combined pesticides were slower to learn
Animal Behavior Source: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
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Thursday, Mar 28, 2013, 11:15am Rating: | Views: 1854 | Comments: 0
Genetic analysis saves major apple-producing region of Washington state In August 2011, researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture were presented with a serious, and potentially very costly, puzzle in Kennewick, Wash. Since Kennewick lies within a region near the heart of Washington state's $1.5 billion apple-growing region, an annual survey of fruit trees is performed by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) to look for any invading insects.
Genetics Source: University of Notre Dame
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Monday, Mar 25, 2013, 10:00am Rating: | Views: 1881 | Comments: 0
Does Greek coffee hold the key to a longer life? The answer to longevity may be far simpler than we imagine; it may in fact be right under our noses in the form of a morning caffeine kick. The elderly inhabitants of Ikaria, the Greek island, boast the highest rates of longevity in the World, and many scientists turn to them when looking to discover the 'secrets of a longer life'. In a new study in Vascular Medicine, published by SAGE, res
Agriculture Source: SAGE Publications
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Tuesday, Mar 19, 2013, 1:15pm Rating: | Views: 1855 | Comments: 0
Agriculture Source: Field Museum
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Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013, 12:00pm Rating: | Views: 1764 | Comments: 0
Amphibian study shows how biodiversity can protect against disease The richer the assortment of amphibian species living in a pond, the more protection that community of frogs, toads and salamanders has against a parasitic infection that can cause severe deformities, including the growth of extra legs, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder.
Agriculture Source: University of Colorado at Boulder
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Thursday, Feb 14, 2013, 1:45pm Rating: | Views: 1864 | Comments: 0
Brain research provides clues to what makes people think and behave differently Differences in the physical connections of the brain are at the root of what make people think and behave differently from one another. Researchers reporting in the February 6 issue of the Cell Press journal Neuron shed new light on the details of this phenomenon, mapping the exact brain regions where individual differences occur. Their findings reveal that individuals' brain connectivity v
Agriculture Source: Cell Press
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Thursday, Feb 07, 2013, 11:45am Rating: | Views: 1750 | Comments: 0
X-rays reveal uptake of nanoparticles by soya bean crops Scientists have, for the first time, traced the nanoparticles taken up from the soil by crop plants and analysed the chemical states of their metallic elements. Zinc was shown to dissolve and accumulate throughout the plants, whereas the element cerium did not dissolve into plant tissue. The results contribute to the controversial debate on plant toxicity of nanoparticles and whether engineered na
Agriculture Source: European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
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Thursday, Feb 07, 2013, 10:30am Rating: | Views: 1639 | Comments: 0
In a fight to the finish, research aims knockout punch at hepatitis B In research published in the Jan. 24 edition of PLOS Pathogens, Saint Louis University investigators together with collaborators from the University of Missouri and the University of Pittsburgh report a breakthrough in the pursuit of new hepatitis B drugs that could help cure the virus. Researchers were able to measure and then block a previously unstudied enzyme to stop the vir
Agriculture Source: Saint Louis University
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Tuesday, Feb 05, 2013, 11:30am Rating: | Views: 1749 | Comments: 0
Progressive optics for side mirrors ends automobile blind spots without distorting view WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2013—A new optical prescription for automobile side-view mirrors may eliminate the dreaded "blind spot" in traffic without distorting the perceived distance of cars approaching from behind. As described in a paper published today in the Optical Society's (OSA) journal Optics Letters, objects viewed in a mirror using the new design appear larger than in traditional side-
Agriculture Source: Optical Society of America
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Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013, 11:30am Rating: | Views: 1979 | Comments: 0
How salt stops plant growth Until now it has not been clear how salt, a scourge to agriculture, halts the growth of the plant-root system. A team of researchers, led by the Carnegie Institution's José Dinneny and Lina Duan, found that not all types of roots are equally inhibited. They discovered that an inner layer of tissue in the branching roots that anchor the plant is sensitive to salt and activates a s
Plant Biology Source: Carnegie Institution
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Thursday, Jan 24, 2013, 1:00pm Rating: | Views: 1905 | Comments: 0
Plants adapt to drought but limits are looming, study finds Scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, and their partners have determined that water demand by many plant communities can fluctuate in response to water availability, indicating a capacity for resilience even when changing climate patterns produce periodic droughts or floods.
But their research also suggests that a limit to this resilience ultimately could threaten the su
Plant Biology Source: University of Arizona
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Thursday, Jan 24, 2013, 11:45am Rating: | Views: 1865 | Comments: 0
Agriculture Source: NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
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Tuesday, Jan 15, 2013, 1:45pm Rating: | Views: 1551 | Comments: 0
An embryo that is neither male nor female So, is it a girl or a boy? This is the first question parents ask at the birth of an infant. Though the answer is obvious, the mechanism of sex determination is much less so. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) attempt to shed light on this complex process by identifying the crucial role played by insulin and IGF1 and IGF2 growth factors, a family of hormones known for its role in meta
Agriculture Source: University de Geneve
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Friday, Jan 04, 2013, 2:30pm Rating: | Views: 1724 | Comments: 0
From farm to table, mealworms may be the next best food Food enthusiasts interested in sustainable farm practices may soon have a new meat alternative: insects. Beetle larvae (called mealworms) farms produce more edible protein than traditional farms for chicken, pork, beef or milk, for the same amount of land used, according to research published December 19 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Dennis Oonincx and colleagues from the Universit
Agriculture Source: Public Library of Science
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Thursday, Dec 20, 2012, 4:30pm Rating: | Views: 1726 | Comments: 0
The role of the cellular entry point of anthrax identified Anthrax uses a receptor on the surface of cells to inject its lethal toxins. However, the physiological function of this receptor, named Anthrax Toxin Receptor 2a (Antxr2a), remained unknown until now. A team led by Marcos Gonzalez-Gaitan, a professor at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, in collaboration with Gisou van der Goot at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), revea
Agriculture Source: University de Geneve
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Monday, Dec 03, 2012, 2:15pm Rating: | Views: 1969 | Comments: 0
Completely new method of manufacturing the smallest structures in electronics A completely new method of manufacturing the smallest structures in electronics could make their manufacture thousands of times quicker, allowing for cheaper semiconductors. The findings have been published in the latest issue of Nature.
Agriculture Source: Lund University
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Thursday, Nov 29, 2012, 4:15pm Rating: | Views: 1693 | Comments: 0
Scientists develop new approach to support future climate projections Scientists have developed a new approach for evaluating past climate sensitivity data to help improve comparison with estimates of long-term climate projections developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Agriculture Source: University of Southampton
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Thursday, Nov 29, 2012, 2:30pm Rating: | Views: 4712 | Comments: 0
Video: Embracing data 'noise' brings Greenland's complex ice melt into focus An enhanced approach to capturing changes on the Earth's surface via satellite could provide a more accurate account of how ice sheets, river basins and other geographic areas are changing as a result of natural and human factors. In a first application, the technique revealed sharper-than-ever details about Greenland's massive ice sheet, including that the rate at which it is melting might be acc
Agriculture Source: Princeton University
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Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012, 5:00pm Rating: | Views: 2134 | Comments: 0
Using biomarkers from prehistoric human feces to track settlement and agriculture For researchers who study Earth's past environment, disentangling the effects of climate change from those related to human activities is a major challenge, but now University of Massachusetts Amherst geoscientists have used a biomarker from human feces in a completely new way to establish the first human presence, the arrival of grazing animals and human population dynamics in a landscape.
Anthropology Source: University of Massachusetts at Amherst
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Tuesday, Nov 27, 2012, 5:45pm Rating: | Views: 1750 | Comments: 0
Agriculture Source: Science
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Tuesday, Nov 27, 2012, 10:21am Rating: | Views: 1108 | Comments: 0
Scientists pioneer method to predict environmental collapse Scientists at the University of Southampton are pioneering a technique to predict when an ecosystem is likely to collapse, which may also have potential for foretelling crises in agriculture, fisheries or even social systems.
Ecology Source: University of Southampton
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Tuesday, Nov 20, 2012, 2:45pm Rating: | Views: 1333 | Comments: 0
Agriculture Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
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Monday, Nov 19, 2012, 2:00pm Rating: | Views: 5971 | Comments: 0
Scientists discover new method of gene identification Scientists studying the genes and proteins of human cells infected with a common cold virus have identified a new gene identification technique that could increase the genetic information we hold on animals by around 70 to 80 per cent. The findings, published in Nature Methods, could revolutionise our understanding of animal genetics and disease, and improve our knowledge of dangerous virus
Agriculture Source: University of Bristol
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Wednesday, Nov 14, 2012, 2:00pm Rating: | Views: 1326 | Comments: 0
Extra chromosome 21 removed from Down syndrome cell line University of Washington scientists have succeeded in removing the extra copy of chromosome 21 in cell cultures derived from a person with Down's syndrome. In Down syndrome, the body's cells contain three copies of chromosome 21, rather than the usual pair.
Agriculture Source: University of Washington
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Wednesday, Nov 14, 2012, 8:00am Rating: | Views: 1875 | Comments: 0