Order of species loss has important biodiversity consequences, grassland study reveals
...ants with unique functions disappeared faster than expected by chance, and invader resistance declined dramatically. The results suggest that biodiversity losses in natural systems can have far greater impacts than indicated by randomized-loss experiments. The five-year study is among the first to combin...Illegal tuna fishing and farming leads to demise of species
...son even started, while some 31,000 short tons are expected to be produced this year. "These data show how the fast-growing tuna farming businesses are out of control," said Paolo Guglielmi, head of WWF Mediterranean's marine unit. WWF's specific recommendations include replacing the ICCAT quota system with a...Sperm enzyme is essential for male fertility, study shows
...ent under a microscope, they found a surprise. "We expected that a type of motility known as 'hyperactivated motility' would be inhibited, but found that all progressive movement was absent in sperm without GAPDS," O'Brien said. "Glycolysis may not be as efficient as mitochondria for producing energy, but the...... kidney, enteric and motor neurons, as well as the expected disturbances in development. However, when they ne...ignaling), while GFR1 transcripts were detected as expected in RET-positive cells, proving that the conditional expression scheme had worked. Analysis of indiv...Study identifies molecular complex vital to creation of miRNAs
...cessive accumulations of primary RNA that might be expected due to a DGCR8-deficient, and therefore nonfunctional, microprocessor complex. Scientists have noted, too, that miRNAs are critical for proper neuronal development. Might miRNA activity, then, provide a new window on schizophrenia, at least in DiGeor...A puzzle posed by black-headed ducks yields to persistent biologists
...avis set out to study the black-headed ducks, they expected to find a highly successful brood parasite, unopposed by the antagonistic strategies that host species deploy against more costly parasites like cuckoos and cowbirds. Instead, they found that black-headed duck eggs are often rejected from host nests,...University of South Florida designated Center of Excellence by Huntington's Disease Society
...s Florida. The Center of Excellence designation is expected to increase referrals from throughout the Southeast. The USF College of Medicine offers a weekly Huntington's Disease Clinic and a full spectrum of services, including genetic testing and counseling, psychiatry, physical and occupational thera...Plant pathologists offer soybean rust identification and management tips
...said Jardine. "Based on our models, the disease is expected to be more severe in the Southeast, Lower Mississippi-Delta region, and the Appalachians and less severe in the western Great Plains and northern Great Lakes area," he said. Soybean rust is caused by two fungal species--Phakopsora pachyrhizi and Pha......globin 2-2, being conducted in northern Israel, is expected to corroborate Dr. Levy's findings. "If this l...idants, such as those found in vitamin E, would be expected to provide the greatest benefit for these patients. The Technion-Israel Institute of Technolo...Studies suggest promising new directions for gallstone treatment
... that FXR-knockout mice in which the drug was not expected to work developed CGD more rapidly than the susceptible mice. "While we have not shown in this study that the drug that activates FXR cures the disease once it starts, it does prevent gallstones from occurring," said Mangelsdorf. Although further st...Visualizing the end of the human genome
...ach chromosome end. Cech and his colleagues expected human POT1 to have a similar design, but the results of their biochemical analyses of the protein did not fit easily with this model. For example, when the scientists added the protein to short pieces of DNA containing the six nucleotides that make u......reates a reaction in another sense, as well as the expected sense. Now, professor Daphne Maurer of McMaster University's department of psychology has found that at one time we all lived in a world in which sights had sounds and feelings had taste. Although synesthesia is thought to occur in just 1 per cent of...New study by UGA researcher shows that Salmonella uses hydrogen as an energy source
...cells by use of metal sequestering agents would be expected to stop the hydrogen using reactions required for growth of the bacterium." The new research showed that each of the three membrane-associated, hydrogen-utilizing enzymes in Salmonella is coupled to a respiratory pathway that uses oxygen as t...Computer analysis shows scientists could reconstruct the genome of the mammalian common ancestor
...er said. "That is much higher accuracy than people expected would be possible." Haussler said he hopes these findings will encourage the additional genome sequencing that would be needed to do a complete reconstruction of the ancestral mammalian genome. Living mammals, from apes to bats to whales, are all var...Global assessments of biodiversity argue for expansion of protected areas in key regions
...ond E. Gullison and Andrew Balmford, evaluates the expected cost of effectively managing all existing protected areas in developing countries, as well as the cost of their expansion into high-priority new areas. The authors estimate that costs of establishing and managing an expanded protected-area system wou...Argo robotic instrument network now covers most of the globe
...ean." The full Argo array of 3,000 floats is expected to be deployed by 2007. Argo floats are autonomous ocean-traveling robots programmed to sink more than a mile below the ocean surface (see animation) and drift for as long as four years. Every 10 days the instruments surface to record temperature, sa...Study gives US a 'C' for lagging support of international reproductive health and population efforts
...y restrictions and uncertainties about funding are expected to continue at least through mid-term congressional elections in 2006. Progress and Promises notes that most donors have stepped up their financial support for the fight against HIV/AIDS. The United States has done the same, but rigid program guideli...Prediction of gene function in mammals
...protein was shown to act biochemically as would be expected for a protein with a role in RNA processing, as predicted by the algorithm. "We examined the extent to which [transcriptional co-expression] is effective for our data, and we show that it yields almost universally superior predictions of gene functio...Stanford study links obesity to hormonal changes from lack of sleep
...the effects were in the right direction and of the expected magnitude. Mignot said more studies on the direct effect of sleep loss on food intake, energy expenditure and obesity are needed. Altering sleep duration may prove to be an important way to prevent and treat obesity. Mignot is working on ...International team finds gene variants that affect response to HIV infection
..., the frequency of the protective alleles would be expected to grow in the population. The researchers conducted much of their work at the new Doris Duke Medical Research Institute in Durban, which is the largest city of KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa. The province is at the epicenter of the HIV epid...