Bacteria carried by unneutered dogs could put pregnant women at risk.

Bacteria carried by unneutered dogs could put pregnant women at risk. Intact dogs can carry Brucella canis bacteria, which can cause flu-like symptoms in people and pose risk to a pregnancy, according to a study in Emerging Infectious Diseases. Brucellosis infections can cause miscarriages in animals and are associated with fetal problems in pregnant women, and the CDC says pregnant women who may have been exposed to the bacteria should consult their health care provider. A bacteria carried by dogs that haven't been neutered can produce flu symptoms in humans and potentially jeopardize a pregnancy, a new study suggests. Brucellosis infection is most commonly spread by livestock like sheep, cattle, goats and pigs. But a strain of the bacterium carried by dogs -- Brucella canis -- could be widespread in humans, warned lead researcher Martha Hensel, a veterinarian with Texas A&M University. B. canis is carried by dogs that can still reproduce, Hensel noted. It's not clear exactly how the bacteria might spread to humans, but it's most likely passed through contact with reproductive organs or urine. People who regularly handle such dogs -- vets, dog shelter employees, dog breeders -- are most at risk for contracting brucellosis, Hensel said. However, pet ownership is a likely risk factor for infection, particularly for young children and people with compromised immune systems, Hensel and her colleagues explained. The researchers highlighted some case studies: 1) A 3-year-old New York City girl came down with brucellosis in 2012 after exposure to an infected puppy recently purchased from a pet store. 2)Several people with HIV have developed brucellosis in recent years, all linked to intact dogs they owned that were later diagnosed with B. canis infection. more

'Green'-feed: Industrial microbes could feed cattle, pigs, chicken.

'Green'-feed: Industrial microbes could feed cattle, pigs, chicken. Deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and nitrogen pollution . Today's agricultural feed cultivation for cattle, pigs and chicken comes with tremendous impacts for the environment and climate. Cultivating feed in industrial facilities instead of on croplands might help to alleviate the critical implications in the agricultural food supply chain. Protein-rich microbes, produced in large-scale industrial facilities, are likely to increasingly replace traditional crop-based feed. A new study now published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology for the first time estimates the economic and environmental potential of feeding microbial protein to pigs, cattle and chicken on a global scale. The researchers find that by replacing only 2 percent of livestock feed by protein-rich microbes, more than 5 percent of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, global cropland area and global nitrogen losses could each be decreased.

How to detect foot and mouth disease with simple environmental sampling.

How to detect foot and mouth disease with simple environmental sampling. Simple sampling method eases identification of foot and mouth disease outbreaks.

Sampling the environment is an effective way to detect foot and mouth disease, according to a paper published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. 

 The sampling method, swabbing environmental surfaces where livestock are kept, can be easily performed and can detect viral genetic material that can persist in the environment well beyond the time when livestock cease manifesting clinical signs of disease.

 Unlike taking clinical samples, those taking samples need not be able to recognize clinical signs of foot and mouth disease. Thus, smallholder farmers in developing countries could take the samples in lieu of veterinarians. 

 Foot and mouth disease is caused by a member of the genus, Aphthovirus. It causes blisters in the mouths and on the feet of cattle, goats, pigs, and other cloven-hoofed mammals. The virus contains a single strand of RNA that encodes its genome.

 Humans are not susceptible to foot and mouth, and the disease generally doesn't kill animals. However, it can greatly reduce milk and meat production, creating a hardship for smallholder farmers. 

 Foot and mouth disease can also have a major impact on a national economy. 

In foot and mouth disease-free countries, an incursion of foot and mouth disease can cause significant losses due to imposed grade restrictions and subsequent control measures required to eradicate the disease.

Bacteria-powered solar cell converts light to energy, even under overcast skies.

Bacteria-powered solar cell converts light to energy, even under overcast skies.University of British Columbia researchers have found a cheap, sustainable way to build a solar cell using bacteria that convert light to energy. Their cell generated a current stronger than any previously recorded from such a device, and worked as efficiently in dim light as in bright light. This innovation could be a step toward wider adoption of solar power in places like British Columbia and parts of northern Europe where overcast skies are common. With further development, these solar cells -- called "biogenic" because they are made of living organisms -- could become as efficient as the synthetic cells used in conventional solar panels.

Transmission of NDM bacteria between dogs and humans established.

Transmission of NDM bacteria between dogs and humans established.The transmission of NDM bacteria between dogs and humans has been established for the first time. In 2015, a New Delhi-metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) Escherichia coli bacteria was discovered in two Finnish dogs. An article recently published in the journal Eurosurveillance reveals that the dogs' owner did also carry the bacterium. This is presumably the first time in the world that the transmission of NDM-bacteria between a dog and a human has been reported. The NDM-bacteria that had originally been isolated from ear specimens from two dogs in the same family initiated an investigation about the spread and origin of the bacteria. Specimens were also taken from family members and the dogs. The relatedness of the bacteria were investigated by examining the nucleotide sequence of their genome. The study was a collaboration between the University of Helsinki, the National Institute of Health and Welfare, and the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira.

Tweets show daily rhythm of our thinking.

Tweets show daily rhythm of our thinking. A study of 800-million tweets finds distinct daily cycles in our thinking patterns. Our mode of thinking changes at different times of the day and follows a 24-hour pattern, according to new findings published in PLOS ONE. University of Bristol researchers were able to study our thinking behaviour by analysing seven-billion words used in 800-million tweets. Researchers in artificial intelligence (AI) and in medicine used AI methods to analyse aggregated and anonymised UK twitter content sampled every hour over the course of four years across 54 of the UK's largest cities to determine if our thinking modes change collectively. The researchers revealed different emotional and cognitive modalities in our thoughts by identifying variations in language through tracking the use of specific words across the twitter sample which are associated with 73 psychometric indicators, and are used to help interpret information about our thinking style.

Neuroscientists uncover secret to intelligence in parrots.

Neuroscientists uncover secret to intelligence in parrots. Neuroscientists have identified the neural circuit that may underlay intelligence in birds, according to a new study. The discovery is an example of convergent evolution between the brains of birds and primates, with the potential to provide insight into the neural basis of human intelligence. "An area of the brain that plays a major role in primate intelligence is called the pontine nuclei," explained Cristian Gutierrez-Ibanez, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology. "This structure transfers information between the two largest areas of the brain, the cortex and cerebellum, which allows for higher-order processing and more sophisticated behaviour. In humans and primates, the pontine nuclei are large compared to other mammals. This makes sense given our cognitive abilities." Birds have very small pontine nuclei. Instead, they have a similar structure called the medial spiriform nucleus (SpM) that has similar connectivity. Located in a different part of the brain, the SpM does the same thing as the pontine nuclei, circulating information between the cortex and the cerebellum. "This loop between the cortex and the cerebellum is important for the planning and execution of sophisticated behaviours," said Doug Wylie, professor of psychology and co-author on the new study.