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Popular stomach acid reducer ups patients’ risk of developing pneumonia threefold

September 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 15 (ANI): Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have found that a popular stomach-acid reducer, which is used to prevent stress ulcers in critically ill patients who need breathing machine support, triples the likelihood of contracting pneumonia among such patients.

Hospital-acquired pneumonia-the leading cause of infection-related deaths in critically ill patients-increases hospital stays by an average of seven to nine days, cost of care, and the risk of other complications.

“As best we can tell, patients who develop hospital-acquired pneumonia or ventilator-acquired pneumonia have about a 20 to 30 percent chance of dying from that pneumonia. It’s a significant event,” said senior study author Dr. David L. Bowton, professor and head of the Section on Critical Care in the Department of Anesthesiology.

During the study, the researchers compared treatment with two drugs that decrease stomach acid: ranitidine, marketed under the name ZantacTM, and pantoprazole, marketed under the name ProtonixTM or PrilosecTM.

Both drugs decrease stomach acid, but the newer pantoprazole is considered more powerful, and has become the drug of choice in many hospitals.

However, upon the analysis of 834 patient charts, the researchers came to the conclusion that the risk of developing pneumonia was thee times more in the hospitalised cardiothoracic surgery patients who had been treated with pantoprazole.

“We conducted this study, in part, because we thought we were seeing more pneumonias than we were used to having,” said study co-author Marc G. Reichert, pharmacy coordinator for surgery at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

The researchers say that their study suggests some other steps to keep critically ill patients from developing ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Bowton suggests that doctors consider whether an acid reducer is needed at all, and, in cases where it is needed, ranitidine is recommended because of the apparent decreased risk in developing pneumonia.

Doctors should stop using the drug as soon as the risk of bleeding passes – once the patient is off the breathing machine and eating, either on his/her own or through a feeding tube.

“Stopping the drugs earlier appears to be the best thing for patients,” Reichert said.

The study has been published in a recent issue of CHEST. (ANI)

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Soon, ‘robobees’ that mimic bees’ behaviour

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 13 (ANI): A Northeastern University neurobiologist is collaborating with Harvard University researchers to develop micro flying robots that will emulate the bees’ brain, body and collective behaviour.

Biology professor Joseph Ayers would create robots, called the robobees, which would mimic the communal feeding behaviour of bee colonies.

The project will draw on the knowledge of computer scientists, engineers, and biologists to construct an electronic nervous system, a supervisory architecture and a high-energy source to power the innovative robots.

“This project will integrate the efforts and expertise of a diverse team of investigators to create a system that far transcends the sum of its parts. We expect substantial advances in basic science at the intersection of these seemingly disparate disciplines to result from this effort,” said Ayers.

Inspired by the biology of the bee and the insect’s colonial behaviour, the project aims to advance miniature robotics and the design of compact high-energy power sources.

The project would also spur innovations in ultra-low-power computing and electronic “smart” sensors that mediate biomimetic control.

In addition, it would refine coordination algorithms to manage multiple, independent machines.

Ayers is widely known for his work in biomimetics- the science of adapting the control systems found in nature to inform design of engineered systems to solve real-world problems-including the development of RoboLobster and RoboLamprey.

The autonomous, biomimetic underwater robotic models emulate the operations of the animals’ nervous systems using an electronic controller based on nonlinear, moving models of neurons and synapses.

“Animals have evolved to occupy every environmental niche where we would hope to operate robots, save outer space. They provide proven solutions to problems that confound even the most sophisticated robots, and our challenge is to capture these performance advantages in engineered devices,” said Ayers. (ANI)

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How people lose muscles as they get older

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 12 (ANI): Even the most well-built people tend to loose their muscles and develop thinner arms and legs as they get older, and researchers in Nottingham have now explained why this happens.

As age catches up, it becomes harder to keep our muscles healthy-they get smaller, which decreases strength and increases the likelihood of falls and fractures.

The researchers have already shown that when older people eat, they cannot make muscle as fast as the young, and now they have found that the suppression of muscle breakdown, which also happens during feeding, is blunted with age.

Led by Michael Rennie, the scientists and doctors at The University of Nottingham Schools of Graduate Entry Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, believe that a ‘double whammy’ affects people aged over 65.

But the team think that weight training may “rejuvenate” muscle blood flow, and help retain muscle for older people.

The study’s results may explain the ongoing loss of muscle in older people- when they eat they do not build enough muscle with the protein in food and also, the insulin (a hormone released during a meal) fails to shut down the muscle breakdown that rises between meals and overnight.

Normally, in young people, insulin acts to slow muscle breakdown.

These problems could be a result of a failure to deliver nutrients and hormones to muscle because of a poorer blood supply.

In the study, the researchers compared one group of people in their late 60s to a group of 25-year-olds, with equal numbers of men and women.

Professor Rennie said: “The results were clear. The younger people’s muscles were able to use insulin we gave to stop the muscle breakdown, which had increased during the night. The muscles in the older people could not.”

“In the course of our tests, we also noticed that the blood flow in the leg was greater in the younger people than the older ones. This set us thinking: maybe the rate of supply of nutrients and hormones is lower in the older people? This could explain the wasting we see,” he added.

Later, Beth Phillips, a PhD student working with Rennie, confirmed the blunting effect of age on leg blood flow after feeding, with and without exercise.

The team predicted that weight training would reduce this blunting.

“Indeed, she found that three sessions a week over 20 weeks ‘rejuvenated’ the leg blood flow responses of the older people. They became identical to those in the young,” said Rennie.

The study has been published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (ANI)

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Monkeys ‘groove to Metallica’s heavy metal music’

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 2 (ANI): Monkeys prefer silence to Mozart, but they are big fans of heavy metal music, in particular Metallica, a new study has found.

Music is a sure-shot way to influence human emotions. However, nonhuman primates scarcely respond to human music, and instead prefer silence.

Now, a new report by Charles Snowdon, a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and musician David Teie of the University of Maryland has shown that a monkey called the cotton-top tamarin indeed responds to music.

And the catch here is: the South American monkeys are essentially immune to human music, but they respond appropriately to “monkey music,” 30-second clips composed by Teie on the basis of actual monkey calls.

In the study, the music was inspired by sounds the tamarins make to convey two opposite emotions: threats and/or fear, and affiliation, a friendly, safe and happy condition.

The group of cottontop tamarins were played a variety of music, including Bach, Led Zeppelin and Miles Davis, but they only reacted when heavy metal rock songs by Metallica were played.

The study, published this week (Sept. 1) in the journal Biology Letters, reported that the monkeys could tell the difference: For five minutes after hearing fear music, the monkeys displayed more symptoms of anxiety and increased their movement. In contrast, monkeys that heard “affiliative” music reduced their movements and increased their feeding behavior, both signs of a calming effect.

Monkeys interpret rising and falling tones differently than humans. Oddly, their only response to several samples of human music was a calming response to the heavy-metal band Metallica.

Non-human primates don’t seem to appreciate human music, Snowdon said, although research has suggested they prefer Mozart to rock music and silence to Mozart.

The study opens a new window into animal communication, Snowdon said.

“People have looked at animal communication in terms of conveying information – ‘I am hungry,’ or ‘I am afraid.’ But it’s much more than that. These musical elements are inducing a relatively long-term change in behavior of listeners. The affiliative music is making them calmer; they move less, eat and drink at a higher rate, and show less anxiety behavior,” the expert said. (ANI)

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UNICEF celebrates 200 episodes of Kyunki… Jeena Issi Ka Naam Hai.

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug.28 (ANI): UNICEF recently celebrated the telecast of the 200th episode of its entertainment education serial Kyunki… Jeena Issi Ka Naam Hai on Doordarshan National.

A serial with all the emotional and dramatic twists and turns that make soaps so popular, Kyunki… has emerged as an innovative and effective agent for behavior change communication amongst Indian television viewers.

Watched by over 125 million viewers across India, the gripping social drama promotes life-enhancing, life-saving messages, critical to the welfare and survival of children and mothers everywhere.

From safe motherhood to HIV prevention, infant feeding to girls’ education, Kyunki promotes prosocial attitudes, behaviours, and practices that contribute directly to the reduction of infant and maternal mortality rates

Naysan Sahba, Programme Communication Specialist at UNICEF India Country Office, who conceptualized the serial says “When we began to work on the show’s concept about four years ago, at the height of the popularity of the saas-bahu sagas, everybody said impossible, there’s no audience for this. Well, we went ahead, carefully if courageously, and you can imagine our delight in that not only is our show doing well but a new wave of socially conscious TV serials, serials tackling hard-hitting issues effecting women and children, have followed suit and are taking the country by storm” .

Kyunki… has a rather unique viewership including unexpected regulars in the form of youngsters and men. A favorite of many across India, the serial is one of the top rankers in its primetime spot of 8:30 PM to 9 PM and is the leading daily soap on DD National.

Not shying away from taking up socially sensitive issues such as the ill effects of child marriage and early pregnancy, gender equality, proper use of contraceptives and prevention of HIV/AIDS, Kyunki… has been a catalyst in encouraging dialogues amongst young girls and families in rural India about things that they earlier had next to no say about.

Concurrent audience research shows that there has been a consistent increase in the number of viewers who say they intend to take action as a direct result of watching Kyunki…, including informing others about the importance of education, motivating children to join school, immunizing one’s own children and regularly washing hands with soap .

The serial has also become a helpful tool and an excellent reference point for frontline workers who promote positive changes in social and health behaviors through interpersonal communication. In depth interviews with health workers, teachers and other influencers has shown that Kyunki… in fact reinforces many of the same ideas they work with and introduces contemporary issues in an interesting, entertaining and practical manner. (ANI)

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Kerry Katona ‘used kids’ maintenance cash to fund cocaine habit’

August 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 20 (ANI): Kerry Katona uses maintenance funds sent by ex-husband Brian McFadden for their daughters to fund her cocaine habit, it has emerged.

McFadden pays 2,100 pounds per month for daughters, Molly aged seven, and one year younger Lilly Sue.

The ex-Atomic Kitten stooped to dipping into the child maintenance to fund the drugs she craves because all her other spare cash goes to pay off creditors.

The Mirror quoted a friend as saying: “It’s no secret Kerry has been really hard up recently. She’s had to find the cash to pay off an 82,000-pound tax bill as well as being declared bankrupt.

“All her assets have been frozen. So that regular payment from Brian, which is protected from the bankruptcy order, was a temptation she just couldn’t resist.

“She knew the money was untouchable. It goes towards the kids’ school fees and clothing and feeding them.

“Obviously, she hasn’t been spending every penny of it on drugs but she’s made no secret of the fact she’s been skimming off the top for herself.”

McFadden is unaware of Katona’s antics and pals say he will be furious when he finds out how the kids’ money is being spent.he friend said: “Brian will be absolutely furious when he finds out.

“He might have been in a very famous band once but he’s not exactly rolling in it himself and will be disgusted to hear that he is funding Kerry’s habit.

“He will think she is cheating the kids out of money that is rightfully theirs.”

The revelation comes after frozen food chain Iceland sacked Katona as its face from advertisements.

The 28-year-old lost out on 250,000 pounds a year because of the deal falling apart.

Katona was axed after she was caught on camera snorting cocaine at her Cheshire home. (ANI)

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Giant robotic cages may one day roam the seas as future fish farms

August 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 19 (ANI): If scientists have their way, giant robotic cages may one day roam the seas as future fish farms, which could help produce greener, healthier, and more numerous fish.

According to a report in National Geographic News, scientists propose that in the future, giant, autonomous fish farms may whir through the open ocean, mimicking the movements of wild schools or even allowing fish to forage “free range” before capturing them once again.

Such motorized cages could help produce greener, healthier, and more numerous fish, just when humans need them the most.

The world’s growing population is devouring seafood as quickly as it can be caught and has seriously depleted the world’s wild fish stocks, warn experts.

Traditional fish farms typically consist of cages submerged in shallow, calm waters near shore, where they are protected from the weather and easily accessible for feeding and maintenance.

But, raising fish in such close quarters can contribute to the spread of disease among the animals, and wastes may foul the waters.

Cages must be moved to keep the waters clean and the fish healthy.

Deepwater cages offer cleaner, more freely circulating ocean water and natural food, which can yield tastier fish.

But, the deep-sea cages must be built to withstand the rigors of the deep ocean. And because they are harder for humans to access, “smarter,” self-sufficient cages could be key.

That’s one reason that Cliff Goudey, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Offshore Aquaculture Engineering Center, is building cages that can move under their own power.

Goudey has equipped an Aquapod cage, produced by Maine-based Ocean Farm Technologies, with a pair of 2.4-meter (8-foot) diameter propellers, which can be steered easily by controllers on a boat to which the cage is tethered.

Aquapods are composed of triangular panels covered with vinyl-coated, galvanized steel netting and come in sizes from 8 to 28 meters in diameter (26 to 92 feet in diameter).

Goudey’s technology gives fish farmers a way to rotate cage locations without towing cages behind boats.

Someday such automated cages could herald an entirely new form of fish farming.

They might be turned loose to mimic natural systems by following carefully chosen ocean currents.

The robotic fish farms could help lead to larger, healthier crops of farmed fish far from crowded coastal areas, where farmed fish both suffer from poor water quality and, by producing waste, add to water woes.

Cages might even generate their own electricity by harnessing solar energy, wave energy, or other forms of renewable power. (ANI)

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How to boost Alzheimer’s-fighting compounds’ value

August 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 18 (ANI): A team of researchers from Purdue University and Mount Sinai School of Medicine have shown that some of the polyphenols found in red wine, thought to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease, in fact reach the brain.

The researchers have found that the amount of polyphenols from grapeseed extract that can reach a rat’s brain is as much as 200 percent higher on the 10th consecutive day of feeding as compared to the first.

They point out that many past studies, in which absorption was measured after single or sporadic doses, often found very little of the bioactive polyphenols reaching brain tissues.

However, they add, more chronic exposure appears to improve absorption.

“This shows that reasonable and chronic consumption of these products may be the way to go, rather than single, high doses, similar to drugs. It’s like eating an apple a day, not a case of apples over two days every month,” said Mario Ferruzzi, a Purdue associate professor of food science, who collaborated on the research with Mount Sinai’s Dr. Giulio Pasinetti.

Pasinetti says that discovering how polyphenols are absorbed and distributed to the brain can impact the scientific understanding of the amount of grape products or red wine a person would need to consume to most effectively combat Alzheimer’s disease.

“The most important thing is that when we follow the repetitive administration of this compound, we were able to observe the transfer of the compound to the brain. This may help us figure out the proper concentration necessary to get these chemicals to the brain,” Pasinetti said.

Though the study dealt with polyphenols, Ferruzzi said that it could also be significant for determining proper doses of other compounds or drugs for patients.

“It could become important in terms of side effects. You could be overdosing because the body is adapting and absorbing or metabolising these compounds differently over time,” Ferruzzi said.

Ferruzzi said that further studies would focus on the mechanisms that control absorption of compounds during chronic consumption.

A paper detailing the findings has been published in the early online version of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. (ANI)

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Baby hyena turns cynosure of all eyes at Bhopal zoo

July 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Bhopal, July 12 (ANI): Officials at the Van Vihar National Park, the zoological gardens in Bhopal are a delighted lot since a little hyena cub has been brought here from the jungles.

The little female cub has become a cynosure of all eyes here.

Forest rangers overseeing the jungles in Satna region, about 377 kilometres from Bhopal, found this abandoned young hyena, although the hyenas are known to be very possessive, caring and social.

Soon the Conservator of Forests at Satna rushed the orphaned hyena to the Van Vihar National Park.

Prior to arrival of this young hyena, the park had just one old hyena and now the authorities are delighted on the inclusion of this cub amongst other animals in the park.

“We had just one hyena in our national park (zoo), which is very old. Now this baby hyena has come from Satna forest. We are more than willing to accept this hyena in our park. We are taking care of its food and rearing it. We want this baby to grow up into healthy adult hyena so that it can stay in the park for longer period,” said S. S. Rajput, Director of the Van Vihar National Park in Bhopal.

Veterinarians at the zoo have assessed the hyena cub to be around three months old. The park officials have christened it as “Lusi”.

Presently, the cub is on a diet of minced fish and milk, being fed through a feeding bottle.

A hallmark of Van Vihar National Park at Bhopal is that all the animals are kept in almost their natural habitat. Most of the animals here are either orphaned ones, usually traced in the state’s forests or brought from other zoological gardens under exchange programme.

There are different types of hyenas such as brown hyena, striped hyena, spotted hyena or the laughing hyena.

Hyenas are regarded as nature’s major scavengers. They also feed on small animals, insects and even fruits. Of course there are instances of hyenas collectively targeting a game larger in size such as deer and calves of wild buffaloes, if found alone.

A pack of hyenas is usually nomadic, moving from one water hole to another but never straying more than 6 miles (10 km) from one. By Ram Chand Sahu (ANI)

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Common ancestor of humans and monkeys evolved from primates in Asia

July 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 1 (ANI): A new fossil primate from Myanmar suggests that the common ancestor of humans, monkeys and apes evolved from primates in Asia, not Africa, as was earlier believed by researchers.

A major focus of recent paleoanthropological research has been to establish the origin of anthropoid primates (monkeys, apes and humans) from earlier and more primitive primates known as prosimians (lemurs, tarsiers and their extinct relatives).

Prior to recent discoveries in China, Thailand, and Myanmar, most scientists believed that anthropoids originated in Africa.

Earlier this year, the discovery of the fossil primate skeleton known as “Ida” from the Messel oil shale pit in Germany led some scientists to suggest that anthropoid primates evolved from lemur-like ancestors known as adapiforms.

According to Dr. Chris Beard, a paleontologist at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a member of the international team of researchers behind the Myanmar anthropoid findings, the new primate, Ganlea megacanina, shows that early anthropoids originated in Asia rather than Africa.

These early Asian anthropoids differed radically from adapiforms like Ida, indicating that Ida is more closely related to modern lemurs than it is to monkeys, apes and humans.

The 38-million-year-old Ganlea megacanina fossils, excavated at multiple sites in central Myanmar, belong to a new genus and species.

Heavy dental abrasion indicates that Ganlea megacanina used its enlarged canine teeth to pry open the hard exteriors of tough tropical fruits in order to extract the nutritious seeds contained inside.

“This unusual type of feeding adaptation has never been documented among prosimian primates, but is characteristic of modern South American saki monkeys that inhabit the Amazon Basin,” said Dr. Beard.

“Ganlea shows that early Asian anthropoids had already assumed the modern ecological role of modern monkeys 38 million years ago,” he added.

Ganlea and its closest relatives belong to an extinct family of Asian anthropoid primates known as the Amphipithecidae.

Two other amphipithecids, Pondaungia and Myanmarpithecus, were previously discovered in Myanmar, while a third, named Siamopithecus, had been found in Thailand.

A detailed analysis of their evolutionary relationships shows that amphipithecids are closely related to living anthropoids and that all of the Burmese amphipithecids evolved from a single common ancestor. (ANI)

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Mississippi River Delta may drown by 2100

June 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, June 30 (ANI): A new research has predicted that the Mississippi River Delta in the US would drown by the year 2100.

“There’s just not enough sediment to sustain the delta plain,” study author Michael Blum of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, told National Geographic News.

Deltas are coastal landmasses created from a river’s sediment deposits as the water flows out to sea. The Mississippi River’s delta plain, for example, includes the lacy “toe” of southern Louisiana.

All deltas are degrading to some extent, as their sediment settles and sinks.

Today, sediments collected along the Mississippi cover about 23,360 square miles (60,500 square kilometers) ranging in thickness from less than 33 feet (10 meters) upstream near Memphis, Tennessee, to about 328 feet (100 meters) in the delta at the tip of southern Louisiana.

The drainage basin of the roughly 2,350-mile-long (3,782-kilometer-long) river, however, includes about 40,000 dams and levees built over the past century.

These structures control flooding and improve navigation, but they also trap sediment or funnel it completely through to the sea.

Previous studies suggested that dams and reservoirs built since 1950 have trapped as much as 70 percent of the river’s natural amount of sediment.

With less material feeding it, the delta plain has been experiencing erosion.

But, even without the dams and levees, the amount of sediment flowing downriver would no longer be enough to sustain the delta because of rising seas, according to the researchers.

The researchers base their conclusions on estimated delta levels over the past 12,000 years, which show significant changes more than 7,000 years ago, when meltwater from the last ice age quickly filled the oceans.

The Mississippi Delta plain retreated inland at that point, and it was only after sea level rise had slowed considerably that the delta again grew seaward.

Current sea level rise, however, may be three times faster than it was the last time the delta was able to grow.

According to the researchers, with the added threat of rapid sea-level rise, sustaining the current extent of the delta plain would require 18 to 24 billion tons of sediment, which is way more than the entire Mississippi River currently carries.

The team therefore estimates that as much as 5,200 square miles (13,500 square kilometers) of delta land could disappear by 2100. (ANI)

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Global demand for food, fiber and fuel may outstrip supply in next 40 years

June 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, June 26 (ANI): A new report has determined that with the caloric needs of the planet expected to soar by 50 percent in the next 40 years, planning and investment in global agriculture will become critically important.

The report was produced by Deutsche Bank, in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

It provides a framework for investing in sustainable agriculture against a backdrop of massive population growth and escalating demands for food, fiber and fuel.

“We are at a crossroads in terms of our investments in agriculture and what we will need to do to feed the world population by 2050,” said David Zaks, a co-author of the report and a researcher at the Nelson Institute’s Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment.

By 2050, world population is expected to exceed 9 billion people, up from 6.5 billion today.

Already, according to the report, a gap is emerging between agricultural production and demand, and the disconnect is expected to be amplified by climate change, increasing demand for biofuels, and a growing scarcity of water.

“There will come a point in time when we will have difficulties feeding world population,” said Zaks, a graduate student whose research focuses on the patterns, trends and processes of global agriculture.

“The solution is only going to come about by changing the way we use land, changing the things that we grow and changing the way that we grow them,” he added.

The report notes that agricultural research and technological development in the US and Europe have increased notably in the last decade, but those advances have not translated into increased production on a global scale.

Subsistence farmers in developing nations, in particular, have benefited little from such developments and investments in those agricultural sectors have been marginal, at best.

The Deutsche Bank report, however, identifies a number of strategies to increase global agricultural productions in sustainable ways, including improvements in irrigation, fertilization and agricultural equipment using technologies ranging from geographic information systems and global analytical maps to the development of precision, high performance equipment.

It also stresses on applying sophisticated management and technologies on a global scale, essentially extending research and investment into developing regions of the world.

The report says that investing in “farmer competence” is important to take full advantage of new technologies through education and extension services, including investing private capital in better training farmers.

“First we have to improve yield,” noted Zaks. “Next, we have to bring in more land in agriculture while considering the environmental implications, and then we have to look at technology,” he added. (ANI)

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How small ‘guys’ can get the ‘gals’ just as their bigger counterparts

June 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, June 25 (ANI): In the world of yellow dung flies, the small guys can also get the girl, but only if they are hanging out on apple pomace instead of cow dung, reveals a new study.

While the large, brawny males almost always have an upper hand in getting a mate, but this is the first time that alternative male reproductive strategies have been observed in this species.

Syracuse University (N.Y.) undergraduate students found that small male dung flies, which are traditionally unsuccessful at finding and keeping mates on dung pats, successfully mated with females feeding on composting apple pomace.

In fact, large males were generally absent from the pomace mounds.

“This is a new chapter in the story of yellow dung flies. No one has carefully studied this species off the dung. Small male dung flies can’t compete with their larger counterparts on the dung, so in this case, they developed a different tactic to successfully pass their genes to the next generation,” said Scott Pitnick, professor of biology in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences.

The students were tasked with designing a study around the size and mating success of yellow dung flies.

“After we made our initial field observations for the class assignment, we could tell from our professors’ reactions that our discovery was a piece of important information in the field. The course was designed to teach us how to be biologists; as such, we made a unique observation that ultimately resulted in a publication,” said Stephen Maheux ’09, a biology major who graduated in May.

The researchers believed that yellow dung flies mated almost exclusively on manure and females were drawn to the dung only when they are ready to mate.

However, Pitnick said that not much is known about the feeding habits of females when they are not at the dung pats.

On the other hand, males were thought to hang out almost exclusively around the manure, awaiting the arrival of the females.

Competition on the dung among males is fierce and can result in injury or death to smaller males as well as females caught up in the struggle.

However, on Toad Hollow Farms in Nedrow, N.Y., the students noticed large numbers of females feeding on apple pomace in a field adjacent to the cow pasture where they were observing flies on dung pats.

Surprisingly, the females were frequently mating on the pomace, and with males that were significantly smaller in size than those found in the cow pasture.

Furthermore, none of the sexually aggressive behaviours normally observed on the dung pats occurred on the pomace.

Apple pomace is the pressed pulp that remains after juicing.

The students’ initial observations suggested that the availability of the pomace seemed to provide male dung flies with alternative mating opportunities.

The study is published in the latest issue of Proceedings of The Royal Society. (ANI)

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Kerry Katona piles on the pounds she lost from £15k liposuction

June 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, June 21 (ANI): Kerry Katona has piled back the pounds she lost from 15000-pound liposuction.

Six months ago, Katona showed off a svelte new size 8 figure after liposuction and plastic surgery hoovered away her blubber.

However, she is back to the tubby look. She was sported lounging by the hotel pool in a flowery bikini with hubby Mark Croft and bingeing on a massive mega meal of three lunches.

The former Atomic Kitten’s feeding frenzy began with a hearty plate of fish and chips at the restaurant alongside, washed down with a can of coke – not the diet kind, obviously.

Next she ordered a greasy plateful of pork ribs with yet more chips plus a pint of lager.

And as she licked her fingers after gnawing off the last morsel from the bones the former Atomic Kitten pop star still wasn’t done.

She then tucked into a piled platter of fried garlic prawns. This time Katona’s beverage of choice to offset the piquancy of the dish was a Bacardi Breezer.

“Kerry was eating like there was no tomorrow, really shovelling it back. Just one of those meals would have done me. I couldn’t have kept up with her,” the News of the World quoted another holidaymaker as saying.

“The three platefuls came up one after the other and she took just 11/2 hours to polish the lot off.

“I was amazed because her husband looks quite a slim bloke-but he was even feeding Kerry extra titbits off his fork. She was obviously relishing every mouthful. And she didn’t seem to worry what anyone thought about all the food she was ordering.

“Afterwards she just walked back to the pool and cooled off in the water, juggling her giant boobs about,” the holidaymaker added. (ANI)

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Simon Cowell’s ex-lover granted restraining order against attacker

May 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 29 (ANI): Music mogul Simon Cowell’s ex-lover Terri Seymour’s request for a temporary restraining order against the woman who tried to strangle her at a taping of the American Idol finale last week has been granted.

Janice Thibodeaux has been charged with misdemeanour assault after attacking the TV presenter, reports the Daily Express.

Thibodeaux said that she decided to attack Seymour because she was upset after watching Cowell jokingly choking fellow judge Paula Abdul on the finale of the hit U.S. TV show.

In the application for a restraining order, made at LA’s County Superior Court, Seymour says that former security guard Thibodeaux “put her in a headlock, wrenched her neck and choked her with the full force of her 200lb frame”.

The 35-year-old insists that she could have been “injured or killed” if Thibodeaux had not been restrained by nearby cops.

In the papers, Seymour also said the woman was “feeding from the publicity of the attack” and feared the fan “will again assault and harass” her. (ANI)

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Healthy weaning diet is good for babies’ body composition

May 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 29 (ANI):Infants weaned on healthy home-cooked food grow up leaner, a new study has shown.

Separately, the study also found an association between longer periods of breastfeeding and low levels of fat mass.

However, the positive effects of a healthy weaning diet were independent of breastfeeding duration.

“Most studies linking infant feeding to later body composition focus on differences in milk feeding, but our study also considered the influence of the weaning diet,” said Dr. Siân Robinson, PhD, of the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton in the United Kingdom and lead author of the study.

“We found that, independent of the duration of breastfeeding, children with higher quality weaning diets including fruits, vegetables, and home-prepared foods had a greater lean mass at four years of age,” Robinson added.

Robinson and colleagues assessed the diets of 536 children at six and 12 months of age. Diet was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire that was administered by trained research nurses to record the average frequency of consumption of specific foods.

The age at which solid foods were introduced into the infant’s diet was also recorded.

In this study ‘weaning’ is defined as the period of transition in infancy between diets based on milk feeding to one based on solid foods.

The subjects’ body composition was assessed at four years by dual X-ray absorptiometry.

Professor Cyrus Cooper, Director of the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre,” said: These findings are enlightening. An influence of qualitative differences in the weaning diet on childhood body composition had not been described before.”

The study is published in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM). (ANI)

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Simon Cowell’s ex says crazed fan could have killed her

May 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 28 (ANI): Terri Seymour, ex-girlfriend of music mogul Simon Cowell, is seeking a restraining order against a woman she claims tried to strangle her.

Seymour, who is host of American Idol’s Extra TV spin-off, said she was attacked from behind outside the TV studio in Los Angeles.

The 35-year-old insists that she could have been killed in the attack by former security guard Janice Thibodeaux.

The 35-year-old insists that she could have been “injured or killed” if Thibodeaux had not been restrained by nearby cops.

In the papers, Seymour also said the woman was “feeding from the publicity of the attack” and feared the fan “will again assault and harass” her.

Thibodeaux said that she decided to attack Seymour because she was upset after watching Cowell jokingly choking fellow judge Paula Abdul on the American Idol final last week.

“I wasn’t cool with Simon Cowell choking Paula Abdul on the show last week and with her crying out ‘Help’ as he did so,” the Sun quoted Thibodeaux as saying.

She added: “Nobody said anything about that – so I wanted to confront him about it because that is not appropriate behaviour, is it?”

Thibodeaux said that when Cowell did not appear outside the studio, she attacked Seymour instead.

Cowell said: “Terri was extremely shocked by it all. It could have been someone with a knife. The woman should be in jail. I’ll be very, very cross if she’s let off.” (ANI)

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Music ‘soothes pain of premature babies’

May 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 28 (ANI): Playing music to babies can help reduce pain and encourage better oral feeding, a new study suggests.

The research, published ahead of print in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, claimed that increasing numbers of neonatal units are using music as a method to help improve behavioural and physiological outcomes or to manage pain during common procedures such as circumcision.

The benefits are said to be calmer infants and parents, a stable condition in the child’s functions, higher oxygen saturation, faster weight gain and shorter hospital stays.

In the study, researchers from the University of Alberta in Canada reviewed nine existing randomised trials published between 1989 and 2006 to see how effective and worthwhile it was using music in this way.

The trials they studied covered a diverse range of populations studied in different ways, which made it difficult to have definitive conclusions, but they found much preliminary evidence for therapeutic benefits of music for specific indications.

Outcomes most often reported in the trials were physiological measures such as heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation and pain.

One of the high quality studies reviewed that looked at using music during circumcision, showed music did have benefits for infants’ heart rate, oxygen saturation, and pain.

In three of the studies that looked at heel prick – a common procedure for taking a blood sample from the heel of newborn infants – there was evidence that using music could have benefits for behaviour and pain.

The authors conclude: “There is preliminary evidence to suggest that music may have beneficial effects in terms of physiological parameters, behavioural states and pain reduction during painful medical procedures.

“While there is preliminary evidence for some therapeutic benefits of music for specific indications, these benefits need to be confirmed in well-designed, high quality trials.” (ANI)

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Farmers advised to use ear protection while feeding ‘squealing’ pigs

May 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 26 (ANI): Farmers have been advised to use ear protection when feeding pigs, to protect them from ‘deafening’ squeals.

The noise made by pigs during mealtimes can reach more than 100 decibels, louder than a chainsaw or powerdrill, the Health and Safety Executive has warned.

It has produced a leaflet entitled Farmwise – An Essential Guide to Health and Safety in Farming, recommending farmers to wear earmuffs or stay away from pigs while they are eating, reports the Telegraph.

The leaflet said: “Large numbers of pigs in a building can create noise levels of 100 decibels or above, especially at feeding time,” according to the leaflet.

The leaflet also suggested that even short-term exposure could be harmful, particularly if workers are exposed to other sources of noise during the day.

“Use mechanical or automated feeding systems to reduce the need to enter the building when it is noisiest, e.g. at feeding time. Make sure any work requiring entry is done during quieter periods,” the leaflet added.

HSE inspector Tony Mitchell said that the noise in pig farms only becomes a problem where hundreds of pigs are kept in close confinement in giant sheds.

“If you can imagine a shed with three to 400 hungry sows waiting for you to come and feed them and they are all squealing at the same time, the noise they make can be quite dramatic,” he said.

“But it’s not an issue if you have an automated feeding system you can switch on from the outside. Once the pigs are feeding they are quiet.

“If you are feeding pigs with a barrow of feed with a scoop for each pig you could be exposed to that noise for quite some time,” he added. (ANI)

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Monkeys and humans share ‘diet control’ habits

May 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 20 (ANI): In a new research, behavioural ecologists working in Bolivia have found that wild spider monkeys control their diets in a similar way to humans, contrary to what has been thought up to now.

Rather than trying to maximize their daily energy intake, the monkeys tightly regulate their daily protein intake, so that it stays at the same level regardless of seasonal variation in the availability of different foods.

Tight regulation of daily protein intake is known to play a role in the development of obesity in humans, and the findings from this research suggest that the evolutionary origins of these eating patterns in humans may be far older than suspected.

The research also provides valuable information about which trees are important for the monkeys’ diet, which is relevant to conservation.

In addition, it may help to improve the care of captive primates, which can be prone to obesity and related health problems due to their diet.

Dr Annika Felton, a Departmental Visitor at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, spent a year in the Bolivian rainforest, familiarizing the Peruvian spider monkeys to her presence and then observing their feeding habits.

She followed 15 individual monkeys (7 adult males, 8 adult females), conducting continuous observations of the same animal from dawn to dusk, and following each of the monkeys for at least one whole day a month.

During observations, she recorded everything they did and ate and for how long.

Where possible, she counted every fruit and leaf they ate, and collected samples of what they had eaten from the actual trees the monkeys had chosen.

The samples were then dried and sent to the laboratory in Australia where they were analysed for their nutritional content.

It is unusual for a study of feeding habits in wild primates to be conducted in this detailed way.

It enabled Dr Felton and her colleagues to calculate how much an individual monkey had consumed and the nutrients involved.

According to Dr Felton, “We found that the pattern of nutrient intake by wild spider monkeys, which are primarily fruit eaters, was almost identical to humans, which are omnivores.”

“What spider monkeys and humans have in common is that they tightly regulate their daily protein intake, that is, they appear to aim for a target amount of protein each day, regardless of whether they only ate ripe fruit or mixed in other vegetable matter as well,” she said. (ANI)

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