Sweet news for those looking for new antibiotics: A new research published in the July 2010 print edition of the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) explains for the first time how honey kills bacteria. Specifically, the research shows that bees make a protein that they add to the honey, called defensin-1, which could one day be used to treat burns and skin infections and to develop new drugs that could combat antibiotic-resistant infections.
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European mountains have experienced a decline in forestry, agricultural and livestock operations over the past 50 years, due to the exodus of rural populations and socioeconomic changes. These areas have become covered by scrubland. Burning has become a common tool used to regain the landscape of olden times and maintain grazing areas at altitudes of between 1,400 and 2,100 metres above sea level in the Pyrenees.
A group of 85 international experts, amongst whom are two scientists from NEIKER-Tecnalia, believe that the illness known as bovine paratuberculosis or Johne's disease can be eradicated by means of control programmes, new vaccines or the sacrifice of infected animals. This was the main conclusion from the meeting between scientists last February in the Scottish town of Inverness, within the framework of the European Commission (ParaTBTools) project on the mentioned illness.
Lack of sufficient iron may be a significant factor in controlling massive blooms of Emiliania huxleyi, a globally important species of marine algae or phytoplankton, according to research led by researchers at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Southampton.
A gene that encodes a protein responsible for determining whether certain immune cells live or die shows subtle differences in some people with asthma, a team led by Johns Hopkins researchers reports in the June European Journal of Human Genetics.
Rome, Italy: A review of studies of babies born after in vitro maturation (IVM) fertility treatment has suggested that they are more likely to be born larger than normal and to have more difficult births requiring more obstetric interventions such as caesareans.
Dr Mahesh Masand, consultant paediatrician at Dr Grays Hospital in Elgin, Scotland, recounts the day when a 22-month-old girl was rushed to A&E after her mother found the toddler hanging from the looped cord of a Venetian blind in her bedroom. The little girl was kept on a ventilator for three days and discharged with no complications after seven days.
'Pythons are renowned for their ability to fast for many months and ingest very large meals', explained Kasper Hansen, from the Aarhus University in Denmark. Modern scanning techniques have shown how extreme adaptations of the internal organs allow the snake to accommodate this 'feast and famine' lifestyle.
New research shows increased muscle performance in sub-maximal activities, which in humans can range from everyday activities to running a marathon.
With no current regulations in place, the scientists from Coventry University believe their findings may have implications for the use of caffeine in sport to improve performance.
The scientists present their work at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting in Prague on Wednesday 30th June 2010.
A team of researchers from Warwick have isolated a gene responsible for regulating the expression of CONSTANS, an important inducer of flowering, in Arabidopsis.
'Being able to understand and ultimately control seasonal flowering will enable more predictable flowering, better scheduling and reduced wastage of crops', explained Dr Jackson.
This is surprising as with large naked wings and the energy they expend in flight, bats are expected to have high rates of water loss by evaporation, say the scientists from the Ben-Gurion University in Israel.
This may provide significant insight into how bats might respond to a future changing climate.
In the third of five papers in the PLoS Medicine series on maternal, neonatal, and child health in sub-Saharan Africa, Sara Bennett and Freddie Ssengooba this week discuss the challenges of getting science into policy in Africa. Dr Bennett, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore USA, and Dr Ssengooba from Makerere University in Uganda argue that that the technical basis for improving maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) in sub-Saharan Africa is largely known, but too often policy and practice are not well informed by science.
Solomon Nwaka from the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) at the World Health Organization and colleagues discuss ANDI, the African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation, which is intended to help stimulate health research and development on the African continent.
SALT LAKE CITY, June 29, 2010 – Female zebra finches don't sing but make one-note, low-pitch calls. Males sing over a wide range of frequencies. University of Utah scientists discovered how: The males' stronger vocal muscles, not the pressure of air flowing through their lungs, lets them sing from the B note above middle C all the way to a whistle beyond the high end of a piano keyboard.
Community-based lymphatic filariasis education in Orissa State, India, increased treatment compliance from around 50% to up to 90%, according to a study published June 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. In their study, researchers from the U.S.