Roadways and parking lots threaten freshwater quality in the northeastern US
...elopment and deicer use impact the watersheds that supply our region's drinking water." Adding that, "We are hardening the watershed and feeding it a high sodium diet that is detrimental to the health of aquatic ecosystems." The changes observed were not subtle. By accumulating in ground water and aquifers,...Fresh water affected by salt from deicing roads
...uman development and deicer use in watersheds that supply our drinking water and provide habitats for many species of aquatic life." Dr. Peter Groffman, of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, notes, "It is surprising and significant that the long-term record shows that salinity concentrations are going up...Smoking damages key regulatory enzyme in the lung
...and the delivery of tracer into the arterial blood supply was much lower for smokers, particularly for the first few minutes after being injected, Fowler added. This finding could imply that smokers and nonsmokers respond differently to other substances that enter the body via the bloodstream, including the...Key regulator of blood glucose levels discovered
... But even during sleep, our brain needs a constant supply of glucose to function properly. For that reason, our body actually manufactures glucose during sleep or when we are fasting. That process, called gluconeogenesis, is carried out mainly in the liver. Insulin normally shuts down the ability of the liv...Hidden sponges determine coral reef's nutrient cycle
...s of course not the case, as there is a continuous supply of fresh water into the sea. According to Scheffers, these hidden organisms play a key role in the marine nutrient cycle due to their incredible capacity to convert enormous quantities of organic plankton into inorganic material. The results from Sc......on, energy efficiency and developments in the food supply chain in 13 European countries. Andrea Ramrez investigated the energy management of the European food sector. She found out that while production growth has increased the energy requirements of the sector by an average of 1.8 percent per year, savin...Research on salmonella in the poultry industry may result in safer food for consumers
...d poisoning.Eliminating the bacteria from the food supply chain in the poultry industry would result in safer food for consumers....Northeast Sun Grant Institute at Cornell spurs 'green revolution'
...is well positioned to help us diversify our energy supply portfolio, more important now then ever before, and generate a multitude of new natural products and industrial chemicals. We see many economic and environmental benefits for New York state farms and communities thanks to the Sun Grant." The Northea...Hanging baskets of sex and death help fruit growers
... in dispensers with a cover that shields the virus supply from direct sunlight one application of virus could serve for an extended period and remove the need for constant reapplication In this Defra funded project the researchers have already tested the effect of a single dispenser which alone infected 5%...NASA technology monitors wildlife habitats from the air
...lly near farmland. Large trees provide an abundant supply of acorns and seeds for food and provide suitable nests. The conversion of forests into agricultural land, development, timber harvesting, sea level rise and over-hunting have all contributed to the decline in DFS populations. In order to protect th...Human beta-cell line offers hope for type 1 diabetes breakthrough
...ibe a "reversibly immortalized" cell line that can supply large amounts of insulin-producing human beta-cell...-producing beta-cells in the pancreas. Because the supply of beta-cells from cadavers is insufficient to meet the needs of 99% of diabetic patients, alternati...Researchers discover gene mutations associate with a chronic pain syndrome
...,000 nerves, that branches from the spinal cord to supply muscular function and sensation to the shoulders, arms, and hands. HNA may first appear in the childhood or teen years, and lead to recurring episodes of severe, sudden onset pain in the arms and shoulders as well as weakness, loss of sensation, and ...Two Sandia microChemLab technologies soon to be checking for toxins in the nation's water supplies
...s." The United States has more than 300,000 public supply water wells, 55,000 utilities, 120,000 transient systems at rest stops or campgrounds, and tens of millions of hydrants. Up until now, real-time, remote water quality monitoring for toxins has been very limited. The liquid microChemLab is currently b...New battery technology helps stimulate nerves
...enever you have a broken nerve connection, you can supply the electrical impulse to complete the circuit," West explains. The microstimulator was developed by a consortium including UW-Madison's Organosilicon Research Center, Argonne National Laboratory, Advanced Bionics Corp., the Alfred Mann Foundation an...Researchers to gain wider access to knockout mice
...be delivered to NIH-funded mouse repositories that supply mice to universities, medical schools and research labs all over the world. When researchers express interest in obtaining a certain knockout mouse line, the repositories will send them live mice, frozen embryos, sperm, and/or ES cells, so they can s...Satellite technology allows scientists to track warm sharks in cold polar seas
... of salmon sharks to maintain their heart beat and supply their warm, active bodies with blood even as the heart cools to 35 F. "This is clearly a unique shark species--the warmest of all gill-breathers in the ocean," Block observes. The salmon shark project is part of the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP)...Research advances understanding of how hydrogen fuel is made
...uction of hydrogen gas is halted. As a result, the supply is short-lived.Numerous microorganisms have enzymes known as hydrogenases that simply use sunlight and water to generate hydrogen-based energy. "Understanding how oxygen reaches the active site will provide insight into how hydrogenase's oxygen toler...Egg's energy stores key to preserving fertility
DURHAM, N.C. An immature egg's internal nutrient supply is critical to its survival, an insight that offers a new route to understanding and treating infertility due to egg death, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers. As women age, their stockpile of immature eggs, called oocytes, dimin...NSF awards 19 new projects to better undestand genetic processes in plants of economic importance
...gen, provide shade and fight soil erosion and also supply more than 5,000 items in our daily lives--from fuels and paper to fruit and medicines. Studying trees has challenged researchers, in part because of the plants' large sizes and long life cycles. Three projects are developing and using genomic tools ...Studies validating performance of Pall prion reduction technology presented at AABB
...prion filtration technology to safeguard the blood supply are being presented at the AABB Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington today. Prion diseases, such as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), the human form of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or "mad cow" disease, are of growing concern to blood s...