Skin found to play a role in controlling blood pressure.

Skin found to play a role in controlling blood pressure. Skin plays a surprising role in helping regulate blood pressure and heart rate, according to scientists. While this discovery was made in mice, the researchers believe it is likely to be true also in humans. Skin plays a surprising role in helping regulate blood pressure and heart rate, according to scientists at the University of Cambridge and the Karolinska Institute, Sweden.In a study published in the open access journal eLife, the researchers show that skin -- our largest organ, typically covering two square metres in humans -- helps regulate blood pressure and heart rate in response to changes in the amount of oxygen available in the environment. High blood pressure is associated with cardiovascular disease, such as heart attack and stroke. For the vast majority of cases of high blood pressure, there is no known cause. The condition is often associated with reduced flow of blood through small blood vessels in the skin and other parts of the body, a symptom which can get progressively worse if the hypertension is not treated.

Both chimpanzees and humans spontaneously imitate each other's actions.

Both chimpanzees and humans spontaneously imitate each other's actions.Decades of research has shown that apes, in spite of their proverbial aping abilities, are rather poor imitators, especially when compared to human children. Current theories hold that apes are worse imitators because they lack this social and communicative side of imitation. A new study has instead targeted the interactive side of imitation directly, and finds that the divide between humans and chimpanzees is less clear cut.

Bat feces: A reliable source of climate change.

Bat feces: A reliable source of climate change.Isotopes found in bat guano over the last 1,200 years provide scientists with information on how the climate was and is changing. People have long known that bat guano -- the polite term for what the flying mammals leave on the floors of caves where they live worldwide -- is a valuable source of fuel and fertilizer, but now newly published research from University of South Florida geoscientists show that the refuse is also a reliable record of climate change. In a new paper published in the research journal Scientific Reports, USF geochemistry Professor Bogdan Onac and PhD student Daniel Cleary report that isotopes found in bat guano over the last 1,200 years can provide scientists with information on how the climate was and is changing. The scientists examined bat guano from a cave in northwestern Romania to produce new insight into how the climate in east-central Europe has changed since the Medieval Warm Period, about 850 AD.

Scientific evaluation of rhino diets improves zoo.

Scientific evaluation of rhino diets improves zoo.Study highlights success of changing diet for reproduction in endangered species.A recent study highlights the ongoing effort of accredited zoos to address challenges and improve the sustainability of endangered species populations in their care. The study evaluated fertility issues in captive-born southern white rhinos and determined that diets including soy and alfalfa were likely contributors to breeding challenges.The study, co-authored by scientists from San Diego Zoo Global and Mars Hill University, evaluated fertility issues in captive-born southern white rhinos and determined that diets including soy and alfalfa were likely contributors to breeding challenges. "The captive southern white rhinoceros (SWR) population is not currently self-sustaining, due to the reproductive failure of captive-born females," said Christopher Tubbs Ph.D, San Diego Zoo Global and lead author of the paper. "Our research into this phenomenon points to chemicals produced by plants present in captive diets, such as soy and alfalfa, as likely causes." Soy and alfalfa are commonly included in feeds for many herbivorous animals under human care, however these diets have high levels of phytoestrogens that disrupt normal hormone functions in some species. The study reviews historical data on the reproductive success of southern white rhinos in zoos in North America. These studies discovered that female rhinos born in captive environments showed lower reproductive levels.

USAID, Nestle train farmers, agro workers.

USAID, Nestle train farmers, agro workers.The United States Agency for International Development and three other organisations will henceforth train farmers, workers and small agricultural businesses in Kaduna State by leveraging the expertise of volunteers. The three other organisations that are working with USAID in the project are Nestlé Nigeria Plc, Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance, and VEGA Member Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture. A correspondent learnt that they would be working under a new partnership programme titled, ‘Feed the Future Nigeria and Nestlé Maize Quality Improvement Partnership’. According to them, the training is necessary being that post-harvest losses and contaminants are some of the challenges of staple crops such as maize and soybean, making it difficult for smallholder farmers to earn a decent income. “Crop contaminants like mycotoxins threaten the health and lives of humans and animals, leading to cancer, fatal kidney and liver failure. In children, aflatoxin – which is a type of mycotoxin – causes growth retardation and other serious health problems,” a joint statement from the groups said. “Farmers will learn how to reduce crop contaminants, to help sustainably increase the safety and quality of maize and soybeans, which will lead to improve the health, nutrition and livelihoods in their communities,” it added.

Friendly Gut Bacteria Can Help Fight Infant Deaths.

Friendly Gut Bacteria Can Help Fight Infant Deaths.Infant deaths from sepsis (bacterial infection of the blood) can be reduced almost by half with doses of healthy gut bacteria, according to the results of a randomised trial conducted in India's Odisha state. Results of the study, published this month in Nature, show that when a 'synbiotic' combination of a probiotic strain of the gut bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum and a carbohydrate that promotes healthy bacteria was given to neo-natal infants for a week, the incidence of sepsis can be reduced. More importantly, the week-long treatment is affordable, at US$1 per baby. Sepsis is responsible for a million infant deaths per year, most of them in the developing world, but options to prevent it are limited. The study involved monitoring 4,556 infants - some placed randomly in a group that received the synbiotic and another group on a placebo - for over two months. Sepsis or death occurred in nine per cent of the placebo group and in just 5.4 per cent of the synbiotic group, showing a reduction of 40 per cent.

New Test Promises Quick Anaemia Detection in the Field.

New Test Promises Quick Anaemia Detection in the Field. A new way to detect anaemia by measuring haemoglobin levels using small amounts of whole blood is believed to be a vast improvement over existing tests, which rely on haemolysis (rupturing) of blood samples in lab facilities. "The most exciting aspect to this analyser is that it uses whole blood (blood components intact) and doesn't require additional steps and reagents to prepare a sample," says Nathan Sniadecki, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle, and an author of the report on the novel approach published this month (October) in AIP Advances. Anaemia, a condition caused by low concentration of haemoglobin in red blood cells, results primarily from a lack of iron in the diet but can co-occur with other conditions, such as malaria or genetic disorders. The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers it as a global health problem affecting over a quarter of the global population, a vast number of which are women and children in resource-poor countries.