Earth
Understanding the dynamics of cane toad dispersal is vital information for scientists helping native animals survive the spread of the poisonous invasive species.
Previous work into the reproduction of cane toads in northern Australia has documented low reproductive frequencies among females at the invasion front.
Now we know, at least in part, why.
MEXICO CITY, July 23, 2019 - Results of an open-label study of vaginal ring intended to be used for a month at a time found the majority of women wanted the ring being offered, with measures of adherence also indicating that women are willing to use it to protect themselves against HIV.
Living cells contain tens of thousands of genes that serve as instruction guides for making the proteins cells need to survive. These genes function in highly cooperative and interdependent ways, and scientists have long known that a change in the expression of one gene can affect how other genes function. These interdependencies can impact a cell's ability to survive.
Air quality in the US may be linked with increased mortality and reduced life expectancy according to research from Imperial College London and the Center for Air, Climate and Energy Solutions at Carnegie Mellon University.
The study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, analysed concentrations of fine particles in the air, called PM2.5, across all counties in the contiguous USA (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) between 1999 and 2015.
Researchers at the Center for Theoretical Physics of Complex Systems (PCS), within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, South Korea), and colleagues have reported a novel phenomenon, called Valley Acoustoelectric Effect, which takes place in 2D materials, similar to graphene. This research is published in Physical Review Letters and brings new insights to the study of valleytronics.
Exposure to air pollution among women in Mozambique greatly intensified by the use of kerosene lamps
Exposure to black carbon particles is 81% higher among Mozambican women who use kerosene as the main source of energy for lighting compared to those who use electricity. This was the main finding of a study undertaken by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institute supported by "la Caixa", in collaboration with the Manhiça Health Research Centre (CISM) in Mozambique and the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Studies (IDAEA) in Barcelona.
Being a fussy eater is a problem for reef fish who seek refuge from climate change on deeper reefs. But, scientists discovered, the coral that these fussy fish eat can support them.
The study was led by Dr Chancey MacDonald at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University (JCU).
Washington, DC - July 23, 2019 - Global warming may have played a pivotal role in the emergence of Candida auris, according to a new study published in mBio, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. C. auris, which is often multi-drug resistant and is a serious public health threat, may be the first example of a new fungal disease emerging from climate change.
Testing for genetic weaknesses in repairing DNA could pick out men who may benefit from a new type of targeted nuclear medicine, a new study reports.
An emerging class of drugs are made up of a radioactive particle that can kill cells attached to a 'homing device' to seek out cancers by detecting the presence of a target molecule on their surface.
These new 'search-and-destroy' treatments are starting to show promise even in men with prostate cancer for whom targeted treatments and chemotherapies have stopped working - but not all patients respond.
Preliminary data from multi-country randomised trial find that half of patients in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam not cured by first-line malaria treatment
Authors call for widely used drug combination to be abandoned in the affected countries in southeast Asia and for accelerated malaria elimination to prevent further development of multidrug resistant malaria, which would jeopardise malaria control and could spread, causing a global health emergency
Genomic surveillance has revealed that malaria resistance to two first-line antimalarial drugs has spread rapidly from Cambodia to neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, University of Oxford and Mahidol University, Bangkok, discovered that descendants of one multi-drug resistant malaria strain are replacing the local parasite populations in Vietnam, Laos and northeastern Thailand. They also found the resistant strain has picked up additional new genetic changes, which may be enhancing resistance even further.
When a fruit fly decides it wants to walk in a particular direction, it sticks to its plan with impressive resolve. Now, Rockefeller scientists have begun to understand how insect brains make and meet navigational goals.
Advocates of healthy eating often extol the benefits of adding antioxidants to one's diet. These compounds are thought to suppress "free radical" molecules in the body that can age cells as a response to stress.
These destructive free radicals - known as reactive oxygen species - also exist in marine ecosystems and are thought to degrade the cells of phytoplankton and other organisms. A new paper, however, suggests that these molecules actually play a beneficial role, upending some conventional wisdom.
A team of international researchers led by Colorado State University is calling for a new approach to understanding environmental risks in the Anthropocene, the current geological age in which humans are a dominant force of change on the planet.
A study of newborn infants has identified a compound produced by gut bacteria that appears to predispose certain infants to allergies and asthma later in life.
"We have discovered a specific bacterial lipid in the neonatal gut that promotes immune dysfunction associated with allergic asthma and can be used to assess which babies are at risk of developing the disease in childhood" said study senior author Susan Lynch, PhD, a professor of medicine at UCSF. "This finding paves the way for early-life gut microbiome interventions to prevent these diseases from developing."