Earth
WOODS HOLE, Mass. - A longstanding goal in neuroscience is to classify the brain's many cells into discrete categories according to their function. Such categories can help researchers understand the complex neural circuits that ultimately give rise to behavior and disease. However, there's little consensus about what metrics should define a cell's identity.
Parasites in the genus Plasmodium, which cause malaria, are transmitted to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes. The parasites manage to acclimatize to these two completely different hosts because the plasticity of their genome enables them to adapt as necessary. Scientists at the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS decided to investigate the epigenetic mechanisms behind this plasticity, in particular DNA methylation. They identified molecules capable of inhibiting DNA methylation and effectively killing even the most resistant Plasmodium falciparum parasites.
Visible imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite on Dec. 31 revealed that Tropical Cyclone Calvinia had moved south of the island of Mauritius in the Southern Indian Ocean.
A tropical cyclone warning class III was still in effect in Mauritius.
On Dec. 31 at 0300 UTC (Dec. 30 at 10 p.m. EST) the Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that Tropical Cyclone Calvinia was located near latitude 21.1 degrees south and longitude 58.0 degrees east, about 72 nautical miles south-southeast of Port Louis, Mauritius. Maximum sustained winds had increased to 60 knots (69 mph/112 kph).
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided forecasters with an image of Tropical Cyclone Sarai and it showed a much weaker storm near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean.
Visible imagery from NASA satellites help forecasters understand if a storm is organizing or weakening. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP provided a visible image of Sarai on Dec. 31.
The American coot is a somewhat drab water bird with gray and black feathers and a white beak, common in wetlands throughout North America. Coot chicks, however, sport outrageously bright orange and red feathers, skin, and beaks. A new study explains how the bright coloring of coot chicks fits in with the reproductive strategy of their less colorful parents.
Proper disposal of leftover medication, particularly antibiotics and opioids, can help reduce antibiotic resistance, prevent children from being poisoned and stop the misuse of addiction-forming drugs.
But a telephone survey conducted by researchers at UC San Francisco found that fewer than half of California pharmacies provided disposal instructions meeting U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines, and just 10 percent followed the FDA's preferred recommendation to take back unused medications from their customers.
The sea encircling Antarctica acts as a huge mixer for water from all the ocean basins - and this circulating pattern influences the exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2) between the ocean and the atmosphere. A study by an international team of researchers, led by Dr. Torben Struve from the University of Oldenburg's Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), has now established that this complex equilibrium of water masses reacts highly sensitively to wind conditions over the Southern Ocean.
Tropical Cyclone Calvinia formed on Dec. 29 and by the next day, its clouds from a band of thunderstorms on its western side had blanketed the island of Mauritius in the Southern Indian Ocean.
Calvinia's center was just east of the island on Dec. 30. The storm has triggered a tropical cyclone warning class III in Mauritius.
Scientists from Skoltech and Heriot-Watt University proposed extracting methane by injecting flue gas into permafrost hydrate reservoirs. Since the flue gas contains carbon dioxide, the new technology will also contributes to reduction of this green house gas in the Arctic atmosphere. The results of their study were published in the journal Scientific Reports.
DALLAS - Dec. 30, 2019 - For decades, therapy to strengthen pelvic muscles has been the standard treatment for men dealing with urinary incontinence after prostate surgery. But a new study from UT Southwestern's Departments of Urology and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation suggests that may not be the best approach.
The North Atlantic Current transports warm water from the Gulf of Mexico towards Europe, providing much of north-western Europe with a relatively mild climate. However, scientists suspect that meltwater from Greenland and excessive rainfall could interfere with this ocean current. Simulations by scientists from the University of Groningen and Utrecht University showed that it is unlikely that the current will come to a complete stop, due to small and rapid changes in precipitation over the North Atlantic.
A metabolite in plants that regulates the growth of anchor roots--vital for sustaining water and nutrient uptake in plants--has been identified and may have useful applications in agriculture.
Scientists have discovered that people who regularly sleep for more than 11 hours or less than 4 hours are 2-3 times more likely to have the incurable disease, pulmonary fibrosis, compared to those that sleep for 7 hours in a day. They attribute this association to the body clock.
The study also reveals that targeting the body clock reduces fibrosis in vitro, revealing a potential target for this incurable disease that kills about 5,000 people, a year in the U.K.,the same number as leukaemia.
London, UK: A clinical investigation recently published in the journal Cephalalgia, the official journal of the International Headache Society, suggests that migraine patients may exhibit a systemic pathophysiological alteration. The study, entitled "Abnormal cardiovascular response to nitroglycerin in migraine", was conducted by Dr. Willebrordus PJ van Oosterhout, from Leiden University Medical Centre, Department of Neurology, Leiden, The Netherlands.
What The Study Did: Some astronauts who fly long missions to the International Space Station experience eye changes. This study investigated whether the eye changes from the traditional spaceflight analog (an experience on earth meant to mimic spaceflight) of simulated weightlessness from 30 days of bed rest with head tilted down were similar to those experienced by astronauts during spaceflight.
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