Concentration of microparticles in lakes reflect nearby human activity and land use
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Predicting where anthropogenic debris accumulates in aquatic ecosystems is necessary for its control and environmental remediation, but plastic and fiber pollution in lakes is not well studied. A study published in PLOS Biology by Andrew Tanentzap at University of Cambridge, United Kingdom and colleagues suggests that microparticle concentrations in lakes are higher than previously reported, and that human activity and surrounding land use may be a strong predictor of microplastics and anthropogenic fiber pollution.
A family of proteins best known for their role in diminishing HIV infectivity may have the goods to outwit other emerging and re-emerging viruses, scientists have found.
Up to three quarters of older individuals in Latin America, India and China experienced significant decline in physical, cognitive, or psychological health over a three- to five-year period, according to a study published September 14th in PLOS Medicine by Martin Prince and A. Matthew Prina of King’s College London, and colleagues. As noted by the authors, the findings support the World Health Organization’s strategy to promote healthy aging by targeting a broad group of individuals who show signs of early decline and are therefore at increased risk of adverse outcomes.
Amyloid protein made in the liver can cause neurodegeneration in the brain, according to a new study in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, by John Mamo of Curtin University in Bentley, Australia, and colleagues. Since the protein is thought to be a key contributor to development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the results suggest that the liver may play an important role in the onset or progression of the disease.
A study of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urine did not find an association between use of menstrual products and VOCs. The study, which measured VOCs in the urine of reproductive-aged women across the menstrual cycle
Major league baseball players must decide whether and how to swing at a pitch based only on the first 10 to 20 percent of the ball’s flight when there is still a lot of uncertainty about the pitch’s speed and trajectory. How do they do it? New research finds that when confronted with uncertainty, humans generate a single motor plan that optimizes task performance. The research resolves a long-standing question about how the brain selects an action to execute when there is uncertainty about its ultimate goal, providing fundamental insight into motor planning in the nervous system.
A new UCLA-led study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology involving faculty at UCLA Health’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering reveals that respiratory emissions produced during the labor and vaginal delivery process can increase the risk of respiratory disease transmission.
The September issues of two of the American Psychiatric Association journals, The American Journal of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Services are available online.
The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) has released its new recommendations on supporting breastfeeding during maternal or child hospitalization. Whenever possible, the lactating mother and breastfeeding infant or child should be kept together
In future, agricultural crop production will have to manage with less and less nitrogen fertilisation. The goal must therefore be to increase nitrogen use efficiency so that yield levels can be kept stable. Plants respond to mild nitrogen deficiency by elongating their lateral roots. In this way, more nitrogen can be absorbed than before. Researchers at the IPK Leibniz Institute have now discovered a hormonal regulatory module that mediates the molecular processes of this adaptation. Brassinosteroids and auxins play a central role in this. The results were published in the journal “Nature Communications”.
Using a virus that grows in black-eyed pea plants, researchers developed a new therapy that could keep metastatic cancers from spreading to the lungs, as well as treat established tumors in the lungs.
Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) researchers have shown that the strongest associations with weight loss success or failure, independent of BMI, are found in the genetic capacity of the gut microbiome.