New neurons born in adult rat cortex
...ma-aminobutyric acid) in adult rat cortex, seat of higher order "executive" functions, and in the striatum, site of habits, reward and motor skill learning. In the cortex, the new neurons appear to arise from previously unknown precursor cells native to the area, rather than from cells migrating in from ano...Selective predation and productivity jointly drive complex behavior in host-parasite systems
... sudden but unavoidable extinction of parasites at higher productivity. In the former case, parasites have d...rigger large fluctuations of parasite abundance at higher productivity. Surprisingly, when predators show no preference for or even avoid parasitized hosts, ...Blasted coral reefs need tender, low-cost care
...protection, and tourism that is more than 50 times higher than the short-term benefits from the fish caught. This extreme form of overfishing destroys not only the fish and invertebrate stocks, but the coral reefs themselves. In the latest issue of Conservation Biology, researchers report on the effective...McGill researcher looks at the genetics behind cheese
...ar protein, the kappa-casein, is associated with a higher yield of cheese and one which is better quality. According to Ng, in addition to the two genetic variants for kappa casein mentioned above, there are about 50 known milk protein gene variants and they have diverse effects on dairy product production...Finland tops environmental scorecard at World Economic Forum in Davos
...e United States in competitiveness but scores much higher on environmental sustainability and outperforms the U.S. across a spectrum of issues, from air pollution to contributions to global-scale environmental efforts. Analysis of the ESI data also makes it clear that developed countries face environmental ...Rats infected as newborns grew up vulnerable to memory problems during an immune challenge
...ponse to germs. Prior research had suggested that higher IL-1BETA in the brain's hippocampus, a key memory area, disrupts the consolidation of memories following a learning experience. Thus it appears that there may be an optimal range for IL-1BETA, with either too much or too little inhibiting memory sto...Melatonin shrinks bird gonads. What does the popular supplement do in humans?
...els of melatonin in the brain, had correspondingly higher levels of GnIH than did quail raised with longer periods of light, which would be expected to produce less melatonin. In addition, the short-day males had larger testicles than the long-day males. Further support for the importance of melatonin in t...Field-cricket study shows that when it comes to competition, sperm quality matters
... for the theory that sperm competition selects for higher sperm quality in insects and indicate that the understanding of post-copulatory sexual selection generally would gain from taking into account variation in sperm quality among males....Columbia study suggests brushing your teeth may reduce risk of stroke and heart attack
...lerosis. The researchers found that people with a higher level of the specific bacteria that causes periodontal disease also had an increased carotid artery thickness, even after taking other cardiovascular risk factors into account. Desvarieux and his colleagues showed that in these people, atherosclerosi...Study finds direct association between cardiovascular disease and periodontal bacteria
...rchers report this week that older adults who have higher proportions of four periodontal-disease-causing b...tion of so-called 'bad' bacteria in the mouth, the higher the likelihood of a thickened carotid artery," added Papapanou, whose laboratory performed the perio...Children's taste sensitivity and food choices influenced by taste gene
...ith a bitter-sensitive allele (PP or AP) preferred higher concentrations of sucrose solutions than did bitte... Favorite cereals and beverages of PP children had higher sugar content than corresponding selections of AA children. According to study co-author, genetici...Examination of internal 'wiring' of yeast, worm, and fly reveals conserved circuits
...ll three. This first-of-its-kind analysis of three higher level organisms published in the February 8 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences supports both the concept of a basic wiring diagram for all eukaryotic cells, and the idea that more selective pharmaceuticals could be designed to...Gene therapy for Parkinson's disease moves forward in animals
... but it's encouraging to see data that it works in higher animals like monkeys." Meanwhile, in separate experiments with rats, researchers used gene therapy to completely reverse abnormal movements called dyskinesias in some of the animals, suggesting a new way to combat the flailing movements produced by a...Family trees of ancient bacteria reveal evolutionary moves
...lved to exist in brackish water environments, then higher salt ones, marine and hyper saline (salt crust) environments. Cyanobacteria are organisms that gave rise to chloroplasts, the oxygen factory in plant cells. A half billion years ago Cyanobacteria predated more complex organisms like multi-cellular ...Report addresses safety problem in preharvest stage of food production
...of the University of Minnesota. Many foods have a higher risk because they are consumed raw, as was the case recently in Pennsylvania where 650 fell ill and 3 died from an outbreak of hepatitis A from contaminated green onions that originated in Mexico. Elimination of all foodborne pathogens is impossible,...Hypertension in African Americans linked to two genomic regions
...om earlier and more severe hypertension and have a higher rate of death from stroke, heart disease, and kidn...e used is ideal for groups who have a trait with a higher occurrence--such as hypertension in African Americans--and who stem from two sets of ancestral popul...New system can measure productivity of oceans
...nstrated that carbon-based values are considerably higher in tropical oceans, show greater seasonality at middle and high latitudes, and illustrate important differences in the formation and demise of regional algal blooms. Researchers anticipate a fundamental change in how they can model and observe carbon...New RNA polymerase discovered in plants
...l subunits of DNA. Without proper DNA methylation, higher organisms from plants to humans have a host of developmental problems, from dwarfing in plants to tumor development in humans to certain death in mice. Pikaard thinks that Pol IV helps make siRNAs that then direct DNA methylation to sequences matchi...Joslin scientists show knocking out two key signals will cause diabetes
...ely to have cardiovascular disease, and they run a higher risk of damage to nerve, eye, kidney and other bod...d sugar to rise. Low levels of IRS-2 are linked to higher levels of blood fats such as triglycerides. Acting alone, neither causes diabetes. But when both sub...Novel 'canary on a chip' sensor measures tiny changes in cell volume; Provides assay results
...om temperature. We will get results even faster at higher temperatures." Hua and her students created the tiny silicon chip that is the heart of the sensor chamber in which the cells are encased for testing. "The new technique is so sensitive it can detect changes in cell dimensions never seen before in l...