Yaakovawoke from his sleep and said, SurelyHashemis present in this place, and I did not know it! Genesis 28:16 (The Israel Bible)

brainwaves (courtesy: Shutterstock)

The types of challenges posed by youngsters on the autism spectrum are very varies. They include repetitive behaviors; difficulty understanding, talking, reading, writing and following directions; limited interests; problems with social communication and interaction; and extreme sensitivity to certain sounds, smells or textures.

In addition, a large percentage of children with autism have a difficult time falling asleep, or they may wake up frequently in the middle of the night or early in the morning.

A new research study from the National Autism Research Center at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba shows that the brain waves of those on the spectrum are shallower particularly during the first part of the night, indicating difficulty falling into a deep, rejuvenating sleep.

Now that the team has identified the potential physiology underlying these sleep difficulties, they are planning several follow-up studies to discover ways to generate deeper sleep and larger brain waves from increasing physical activities during the day to behavioral therapies and pharmacological alternatives such as medical cannabis.

The study was just reported in Sleep, the leading journal in the field under the title Reduced Sleep Pressure in Young Children with Autism. While the disorder is as yet incurable, the discovery could lead in the future to improved treatments.

Previous studies have shown that 40% to 60% of children with autism have some form of sleep disturbance, which makes life difficult for the youngsters and for their families. Determining what causes these sleep disturbances is a first critical step in finding out how to mitigate them.

A team led by Prof. Ilan Dinstein, who heads the research and is a member of the universitys psychology department, examined the brain activity of 29 children on the spectrum and compared them to 23 children without autism. The childrens brain activity was recorded as they slept during an entire night in the sleep lab at Soroka University Medical Center, which is managed by Prof. Ariel Tarasiuk.

Normal sleep begins with periods of deep sleep that are characterized by high amplitude slow brain waves. The recordings revealed that the brain waves of children with autism are, on average, 25% weaker (shallower) than those of typically developing children, indicating that they have trouble entering deep sleep, which is the most critical aspect of achieving a restful and rejuvenating sleep experience.

It appears that autistic children and especially those whose parents reported serious sleep problems do not tire themselves out enough during the day or develop enough pressure to sleep and dont sleep as deeply, said Dinstein. We also found a clear relationship between the severity of sleep disturbances as reported by the parents and the reduction in sleep depth. Children with more serious sleep issues showed brain activity that indicated more shallow and superficial sleep.

Original post:
Israeli Researchers Isolate Brain Wave Patterns that Will Lead to Better Treatment of Kids with Autism - Breaking Israel News

Minke whale. Image via Jeremy Goldbogen.

By Matthew Savoca, Stanford University; Jeremy Goldbogen, Stanford University, and Nicholas Pyenson, Smithsonian Institution

Both toothed and baleen (filter-feeding) whales are among the largest animals ever to exist. Blue whales, which measure up to 100 feet (30 meters) long and can weigh over 150 tons, are the largest animals in the history of life on Earth.

Although whales have existed on this planet for some 50 million years, they only evolved to be truly gigantic in the past five million years or so. Researchers have little idea what limits their enormous size. What is the pace of life at this scale, and what are the consequences of being so big?

As scientists who study ecology, physiology and evolution, we are interested in this question because we want to know the limits to life on Earth, and what allows these animals to live at such extremes. In a newly published study, we show that whale size is limited by the largest whales very efficient feeding strategies, which enable them to take in a lot of calories compared to the energy they burn while foraging.

EarthSky 2020 lunar calendars are available! They make great gifts. Order now. Going fast!

A humpback whale approaches scientists in the Antarctic. Image via Goldbogen Laboratory, Stanford University/ Duke University Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing, taken under permit ACA/ NMFS #14809.

Ways to be a whale

The first whales on Earth had four limbs, looked something like large dogs and lived at least part of their lives on land. It took about 10 million years for their descendants to evolve a completely aquatic lifestyle, and roughly 35 million years longer for whales to become the giants of the sea.

Once whales became completely aquatic some 40 million years ago, the types that succeeded in the ocean were either baleen whales, which fed by straining seaweater through baleen filters in their mouths, or toothed whales that hunted their prey using echolocation.

As whales evolved along these two paths, a process called oceanic upwelling was intensifying in the waters around them. Upwelling occurs when strong winds running parallel to the coast push surface waters away from the shore, drawing up cold, nutrient-rich waters from the deep ocean. This stimulates plankton blooms.

Upwelling occurs when winds displace surface waters, which are replaced by cold, nutrient-rich water that wells up from below. Image via NOAA.

Stronger upwelling created the right conditions for baleen whale prey, such as krill and forage fish, to become concentrated in dense patches along coastlines. Whales that fed on these prey resources could forage efficiently and predictably, allowing them to grow larger. Fossil records showing that baleen whale lineages separately became gigantic all at the same time support this view.

Really big gulps

Is there a limit to how big whales can become? We tackled this question by drawing on animal energetics the study of how efficiently organisms ingest prey and turn the energy it contains into body mass.

Getting large is based on simple math: If a creature can gain more calories than it spends, it gets bigger. This may seem intuitive, but demonstrating it with data collected from free-living whales was a gargantuan challenge.

To get the information, our international team of scientists attached high-resolution tags with suction cups to whales so that we could track their orientation and movement. The tags recorded hundreds of data points per second, then detached for recovery after about 10 hours.

Like a Fitbit that uses movement to record behavior, our tags measured how often whales fed below the oceans surface, how deep they dove and how long they remained at depth. We wanted to determine each species energetic efficiency the total amount of energy that it gained from foraging, relative to the energy it expended in finding and consuming prey.

Tagged blue whale off the coast of Big Sur, California. Image via Duke Marine Robotics & Remote Sensing under NMFS permit 16111.

Data in this study was provided by collaborators representing six countries. Their contributions represent tens of thousands of hours of fieldwork at sea collecting data on living whales from pole to pole.

In total, this meant tagging 300 toothed and baleen whales from 11 species, ranging from five-foot-long harbor porpoises to blue whales, and recording more than 50,000 feeding events. Taken together, they showed that whale gigantism is driven by the animals ability to increase their net energy gain using specialized foraging mechanisms.

Our key finding was that lunge-feeding baleen whales, which engulf swarms of krill or forage fish with enormous gulps, get the most bang for their buck. As these whales increase in size, they use more energy lunging but their gulp size increases even more dramatically. This means that the larger baleen whales get, the greater their energetic efficiency becomes. We suspect the upper limit on baleen whales size is probably set by the extent, density and seasonal persistence of their prey.

Large toothed whales, such as sperm whales, feed on large prey occasionally including the fabled giant squid. But there are only so many giant squid in the ocean, and they are hard to find and capture. More frequently, large toothed whales feed on medium-sized squid, which are much more abundant in the deep ocean.

Because of a lack of large enough prey, we found that toothed whales energetic efficiency decreases with body size the opposite of the pattern we documented for baleen whales. Therefore, we think the ecological limits imposed by a lack of giant squid prey prevented toothed whales from evolving body sizes greater than sperm whales.

Scaling of energetic efficiency in toothed whales and baleen whales. Image via Alex Boersma.

One piece of a larger puzzle

This work builds on previous research about the evolution of body size in whales. Many questions remain. For example, since whales developed gigantism relatively recently in their evolutionary history, could they evolve to be even larger in the future? Its possible, although there may be other physiological or biomechanical constraints that limit their fitness.

For example, a recent study that measured blue whale heart rates demonstrated that heart rates were near their maximum even during routine foraging behavior, thereby suggesting a physiological limit. However, this was the first measurement and much more study is needed.

We would also like to know whether these size limits apply to other big animals at sea, such as sharks and rays, and how baleen whales consumption of immense quantities of prey affect ocean ecosystems. Conversely, as human actions alter the oceans, could they affect whales food supplies? Our research is a sobering reminder that relationships in nature have evolved over millions of years but could be disrupted far more quickly in the Anthropocene.

Matthew Savoca, Postdoctoral researcher, Stanford University; Jeremy Goldbogen, Assistant Professor of Biology, Stanford University, and Nicholas Pyenson, Research Geologist and Curator of Fossil Marine Mammals, Smithsonian Institution

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: Explanation of why whales are so big, but not even bigger.

Originally posted here:
Why are whales big, but not bigger? - EarthSky

Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar has asked agriculture scientists to find solutions for problems of farmers in distress.

He was speaking after inaugurating the 57th national conference on Plant Physiology on Plant Productivity and Stress Management, organised by the Indian Society of Plant Physiologists (ISPP) at the Kerala Agricultural University on Thursday. The Minister highlighted the challenge to food security and livelihoods posed by climate vagaries.

Around 350 delegates from all over the country are attending the three-day conference.

The survival of the farmer should be the focus of all scientific deliberations and if the researches do not address the farmers issues, we will be failing both as scientists and as a community. Scientists should not fall prey to the vested interests of industrial lobbies, he said.

We do not need any complicated technology that will put more burden on the farmers. What we need is simple, but effective farming methods. That is the challenge before the farm scientists. We need farmer-friendly researches. Fruits of the research should reach the farmers, the Minister told the scientists.

At a time when climate change posed new challenges to the farm sector, scientists needed to develop new methods. The farm scientists had a huge responsibility to support the farmers and crops to adapt to climatic changes.

The Minister distributed the ISPP awards for outstanding contributions in the field of Plant Physiology to Narendra Kumar Gupta (JJ Chinoy Medal Award); Sneh Lata Singla Pareek (J.C. Bose Gold Medal Award); and Sharad Kumar Dwivedi (R.D. Asana Gold Medal award). Deepu Mathew and Gomathi R. were selected as ISPP Fellows.

R. Chandrababu, Vice Chancellor, KAU, who himself is a plant physiologist, highlighted the importance of using physiological criteria in plant breeding programmes, especially in the context of climate change.

The inaugural function commemorated the works and achievements of the late S. Sheadrinath, founder of the Department of Plant Physiology at Kerala Agricultural University. Senior plant physiologists T.V.R. Nair and Nandini K. were also felicitated.

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Professors in the humanities and social sciences offer expert perspectives into important, sometimes controversial issues that captured the publics interest this past year.

Addressing a range of timely and relevant topics, USC Dornsife faculty shared their expertise and offered scholarly observations and perspectives through op-eds in 2019. (Composite: Dennis Lan. Image source: iStock.)

On a wide variety of issues, ranging from the impact of Californias aging infrastructure on the environment to cellphone addiction, scholars at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences published opinion articles in 2019 that provided fresh insight on important issues, helping to shape a national dialogue about them.

Following are just a few notable articles.

California is uniquely fire-prone thanks to its long romance with high-voltage power lines Los Angeles Times

Published in January 2019, this prescient article by Peter Westwick, adjunct professor (research) of history, explains how and why California became dependent on high-voltage power lines. Westwick also warns that increasingly, fires will remind us that all electricity comes with a cost, beyond what we pay in our utility bills. Westwick is also director of the Aerospace History Project at the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Proposition 187s anti-immigrant cruelty was a California tradition Los Angeles TimesOn the 25th anniversary of the passage of Californias divisive Prop. 187, Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity Natalia Molina reflects on Californias anti-immigrant history, dating back to the Great Depression, a time of mass repatriations, deportations and general scapegoating for Mexican immigrants.

Why I Teach The New York TimesIf our leaders should be teachers, our teachers should also be leaders, understanding that what we do in our universities is not simply to research or teach, but to model what a democracy should be, writes University Professor Viet Thanh Nguyen, Aerol Arnold Chair of English and professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity and Comparative Literature.

How to kick your cellphone addiction and other bad habits, too Los Angeles Times

Changing old habits or forming new ones is hard, writes Wendy Wood, Provost Professor of Psychology and Business, in this article. Woods explains the psychology and physiology of habit formation and offers helpful tips on breaking bad habits, like the increasingly common addiction to cellphones.

Continue reading here:
Scholarship matters: Influential faculty op-eds tackle weighty topics in 2019 > News > USC Dornsife - USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and...

Signal problems: Mice missing a copy of a gene called CUL3 have overly excitable neurons.

A shortage of CUL3, a leading autism gene, impairs social behavior in mice by ramping up protein production in neurons, a new study suggests1.

CUL3 helps tag superfluous proteins for destruction. Several studies have tied rare, spontaneous variants in the gene to autism. But little is known about how the variants lead to the condition.

The new study shows that deleting a copy of CUL3 impairs communication between neurons and alters brain development. These problems seem to arise because certain proteins are no longer degraded properly, causing them to accumulate.

One of these proteins activates the machinery that makes proteins, exacerbating the problem. The results were published in November in Neuron.

This identifies the physiological function of CUL3 and provides pathological mechanisms of possibly autism, says lead investigator Lin Mei, professor and chair of neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

The findings align with the theory that excess protein production at neuronal connections, or synapses, underlies many forms of autism.

However, the mechanisms in the new work differ from those reported in August by another team studying a different set of CUL3 mutants2. That team tied the loss of CUL3 to an increase in a protein that controls gene expression.

It would be important to dig into the convergences and divergences between these two studies, says Silvia De Rubeis, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, who was not involved in either study.

Meis team made mice that lack one or both copies of the gene in their neurons and star-shaped cells called astrocytes.

Mice that lack both copies die young and have unusually small brains, suggesting that the gene is crucial for brain development.

Those missing only one copy of the gene have a normal lifespan and brain size. These mice tend to avoid spending time with other mice. They are also anxious, preferring to stick to the perimeter of an open chamber and rarely crossing through the center.

Brain slices from the hippocampus, a brain area important for learning and memory, show that the mice have an unusually high density of dendritic spines tiny nubs that receive signals from other neurons. A mouse model of fragile X syndrome, a condition related to autism, shows a similar surplus in these structures.

Neurons in the hippocampus of the CUL3 mice are also overly excitable, resulting in a signaling imbalance, which is often associated with autism.

The mice show elevated levels of several proteins, including one called EIF4G1, which controls protein production and so worsens the protein buildup. Blocking EIF4G1 with an experimental drug injected into the brain eases the mices social difficulties.

The researchers also found evidence that a subset of cells called pyramidal neurons are responsible for many of the features caused by CUL3 deficiency.

The mice in the August study also show social problems, but they lack a copy of CUL3 only from excitatory neurons in the cerebral cortex, the brains outer layer. The mices social problems seem to stem from an accumulation of a protein called SMYD3, which controls gene expression, rather than from EIF4G1.

The differences have stumped researchers.

I dont know why the results are different, says Zhen Yan, professor of physiology and biophysics at the State University of New York at Buffalo; Yan led the August study but was not involved in the new work. CUL3 probably has different functions in different brain areas and cell types.

Mice in both studies lack a copy of CUL3 only in the brain, whereas autistic people would lack a copy in all cells of the body.

While these models are great to investigate the brain-specific impact of CUL3 deficiency, they do not accurately recapitulate the genetics of individuals with CUL3 mutations, De Rubeis says.

A third team has made mice that carry a CUL3 mutation identified in an autistic person. Their unpublished results suggest that CUL3s loss decreases brain size and neuronal firing, says the teams leader, Lilia Iakoucheva. The results link changes in the mices brain and behavior to an increase in a protein called RhoA, which regulates the structural skeleton of cells.

Read more:
Loss of autism gene may lead to pile-up of proteins in neurons - Spectrum

Long before Apple watches, grandfather clocks or even sundials, nature provided living things with a way to tell time.

Life evolved on a rotating world that delivered alternating light and darkness on a 24-hour cycle. Over time, cellular chemistry tuned itself to that rhythm. Today, circadian rhythms governed by a master timekeeper in the brain guide sleeping schedules and mealtimes and influence everything from diet to depression to the risk of cancer. While an Apple watch can monitor a few vital functions such as your heart rate, your bodys natural clock controls or affects nearly all of them.

Circadian rhythms impact almost every aspect of biology, says neuroscientist Joseph Takahashi of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Lately, research by Takahashi and others has suggested strategies for manipulating the bodys clock to correct circadian-controlled chemistry when it goes awry. Such circadian interventions could lead to relief for shift workers, antidotes for jet lag, and novel treatments for mood disorders and obesity, not to mention the prospect of counteracting aging.

Prime weapons for the assault on clock-related maladies, Takahashi believes, can be recruited from an arsenal of small molecules, including some existing medical drugs.

Researchers are increasingly interested in developing small molecules to target the circadian system directly for therapeutic gains, Takahashi and coauthors Zheng Chen and Seung-Hee Yoo wrote in the 2018 Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

In sophisticated life-forms (such as mammals), central control of the bodys clock resides in a small cluster of nerve cells within the brains hypothalamus. That cluster, called the suprachiasmatic nucleus SCN for short is tuned to the day-night signal by light transmitted via the eyes and the optic nerve.

But the SCN does not do the job alone. Its the master clock, for sure, but satellite timekeepers operate in all kinds of cells and body tissues.

There isnt just an SCN clock in the brain, Takahashi said at a recent meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. There are clocks throughout the entire body. Every major organ system has its own intrinsic clock.

The proliferation of clocks throughout the body makes circadian chemistry relevant to various behaviors and physiological processes, such as metabolism and blood flow. Maintaining healthy physiology requires all the bodys various clocks to be synchronized by signals (in the form of hormones and nerve impulses) from the SCN. SCN signals govern the timing of genetic activity responsible for the production of numerous clock-related proteins. Studies mainly in mice have shown how those proteins participate in complex chemical feedback loops, perpetuating rhythmic genetic activity in which proteins are first produced and then degraded to drive circadian cycles. Similar chemistry operates in humans.

Key molecular players in keeping the bodys clocks ticking are the proteins known as CLOCK and BMAL1. Studies of liver cells in mice show that CLOCK partners with BMAL1 to regulate gene activity, driving all the important circadian chemical reactions. Generally in many cells you see a similar kind of picture, in the brain or other tissues, Takahashi said.

The CLOCK-BMAL1 tandem activates genes that produce several forms of the circadian proteins period and cryptochrome. In mice, that process starts work in daytime, leading to a substantial buildup of period (PER) and cryptochrome (CRY) by evening. At night, PER and CRY migrate into the cells nucleus and block the action of CLOCK-BMAL1, thereby halting production of PER and CRY themselves. PER and CRY amounts then diminish as other molecules degrade them. By morning, PER and CRY levels drop so low that CLOCK and BMAL1 are no longer disabled and can begin producing PER and CRY anew.

Many other molecules participate in circadian chemistry; the exact molecular participants differ from tissue type to tissue type. In the (mouse) liver alone, the activity of thousands of genes fluctuates on a circadian schedule.

An hourglass uses the flow of sand to mark time. The body uses the build-up and flow of proteins to keep its rhythms. Although there are numerous different players in the bodys many clocks, the workings of the circadian proteins period (PER) and cryptochrome (CRY) (and their counterparts CLOCK and BMAL1) exemplify the kind of feedback loop that keeps the body in sync with the day-night cycle.

While signals from the SCN set the daily schedule for circadian chemistry, various small molecules, such as many medicinal drugs, can disrupt cellular timing. (Thats one reason certain drugs such as blood thinners and chemotherapy treatments are more or less effective depending on the time of day that they are administered.) Researchers have identified dozens of small molecules that can influence circadian processes.

Some such molecules change the length of the circadian period. Some alter the precise timing of specific processes during the cycle. Others help maintain robust signals for synchronizing the bodys clocks. Circadian signaling weakens with age, possibly contributing to many age-related disorders such as impaired metabolism or sleep problems.

Among the common drugs that exert effects on the circadian system are opsinamides, sulfur-containing compounds that suppress the amount of light input into the SCN. Nobiletin, found in the peels of citrus fruits, manipulates circadian rhythms to improve metabolism in obese mice. (Nobiletin also counters tumors and inflammation.) Resveratrol is a well-known compound that alters the activity of certain clock genes, with some possible human health benefits.

Scientists have discovered a long list of existing medicines and small molecules now under investigation that act on or influence the bodys circadian system.

Todays challenge, Takahashi and coauthors say, is to identify the precise targets where small molecules exert their influence. Knowing the targets should help researchers find ways to repair defects in the circadian system or alleviate temporary inconveniences such as jet lag.

Jet lag occurs when sudden changes in time zone generate a mismatch between the body clocks expectations and the actual day-night cycle (not to mention timing of meals and social activities). While it is usually just an annoyance for travelers, shift workers face long-term consequences for working when the body clock advises sleep. Shift workers, Chen, Yoo and Takahashi point out, are at risk for sleep problems, gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mood disorders. Molecules tested in mice have shown promise for reconciling expectations with reality, getting the clock back in phase with the bodys environment.

Clock malfunction also affects the bodys disease-fighting immune system, and certain clock components have been identified as potential targets for alleviating autoimmune disease and excessive inflammation. Other recent studies have shown that molecular intervention with clock components can aid proper functioning of mitochondria, the cellular structures responsible for energy production.

While most of the details about circadian chemistry come from studies in mice, studies of human sleep disorders indicate that the basic circadian story is similar in people. A mutation in the human gene responsible for making one of the period proteins has been linked, for example, to familial advanced sleep phase disorder. (In people with that mutation, the normal sleep-wake cycles shift by several hours.) Other research has shown that a variant version of the human gene for cryptochrome protein increases the risk of diabetes.

An especially intriguing possibility is that body clock management could provide strategies for slowing down aging.

Many studies have shown that aging in some animal can be slowed by restricting food intake. Fewer calories can lead to longer lives. But work by Takahashi and others has found that (in mice, at least) timing of ingesting the calories can be almost as important as the quantity.

Mice allowed to eat a normal amount of calories, but only within restricted hours, have lived about 15 percent longer than usual, Takahashi reported at the neuroscience meeting. In humans, that would correspond to a life span increase from 80 years to 92.

Were super excited about these results, because these are the first experiments to show that you can extend life span by restriction of time of nutrient intake only without a reduction of calories, Takahashi said.

For us its much easier to restrict the time that we eat than the amount that we eat. Now if you can do both, thats even better. I think that this, I hope, could have benefit for human health and longevity in the future.

Continue reading here:
Winding the body's clock - Knowable Magazine

The reproduction of lynxes is highly mysterious. Unlike other wild cats, most lynxes are only receptive for a few days once a year. As scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) have already shown in the past, this is a consequence of the long life of corpus lutea in the ovaries which prevents further ovulation during the course of the year. The Berlin team has now achieved another breakthrough in solving the puzzle: they were able to isolate several cell types of corpus luteum from domestic cat tissue and characterise their function in detail with the help of cell cultures. The new method can also be applied to endangered felids such as the Iberian lynx and could advance our understanding of the causes and mechanisms of the longevity of corpus lutea in lynxes. The ultimate goal in practical terms is to induce ovulation with the help of corpus luteum hormones. This would enhance the support for the reproduction of the highly endangered Iberian lynx in breeding programmes.

When it comes to reproduction, the felids are usually quite unanimous: most wild cat species go through several sexual cycles per year, so can become pregnant several times a year. However, unlike its relatives, the genus Lynx mainly uses a mono-oestric reproduction strategy. Three of four lynx species can become pregnant for a short time only once per year. This is a burden for endangered species such as the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus). If they do not succeed in producing offspring within this time, they have to wait until next year. Artificial insemination also failed, probably because of the lack of knowledge about how to induce ovulation. It is therefore indispensable for the success of the lynx conservation breeding programme to learn more about the mysterious physiology of their reproduction.

In 2014, the reproduction team of the Leibniz-IZW was able to present the first important partial solution of the puzzle. Together with colleagues from several zoological gardens they discovered that the corpus luteum of lynx is continuously active for several years and thus responsible for their unusual reproduction pattern. The corpus luteum is a glandular tissue in the ovaries of mammals that, among other things, produces progesterone - the hormone that supports pregnancy and prevents further ovulation. If the egg is not fertilised, the corpus luteum normally degrades quite quickly and thereby enables a new cycle.

"In lynxes, a mechanism has developed that maintains the corpus luteum for several years. This means that the genus Lynx has the longest known lifespan of functionally active corpora lutea among mammals," says Beate Braun, scientist in the Department of Reproduction Biology at the Leibniz-IZW. "It is astonishing that lynxes are ready for reception in a new season despite the presence of corpus lutea. The activity of the corpus luteum is apparently shut down for a short time, which triggers ovulation. Progesterone production is then resumed and held high beyond pregnancy. In this way, the persistent corpus luteum is likely to prevent further ovulations in the same year."

It is still unclear, how exactly the longevity of the corpus luteum is maintained. However, the scientists from Berlin have now come one step closer to solving the mystery. "We succeeded in isolating and cultivating different cell types from the corpus luteum of domestic cats," explains Michal Hryciuk, PhD student in the Department of Reproduction Biology at the Leibniz-IZW. "The cells originate from tissue taken from domestic cats in animal clinics during castration. Tissues from lynxes or other wild cat species are very rarely available - for example when dead animals are found or animals in zoos are castrated for medical reasons. It was therefore important to us to set up a functioning cultivation system first and then apply it to valuable samples, and that is exactly the system that we have now."

The scientists not only succeeded in cultivating several cell types but also characterised large and small cells of corpus lutea under controlled laboratory conditions. They were able to determine the amount of progesterone and other hormones produced and track the changing activity of genes over time. With the developed cultivation technique, scientific research now has the urgently needed instruments at its disposal to solve the riddle of the long-lived corpus luteum. "Our results will help to identify the hormonal control mechanisms that regulate the growth, maintenance, and degradation of corpus luteum," says Katarina Jewgenow, Head of the Department of Reproduction Biology at the Leibniz-IZW. "This opens up completely new possibilities to enhance the conception of endangered lynxes and other wild cat species in order to support conservation breeding programmes."

The rest is here:
Corpus luteum cells of cats successfully cultivated and comprehensively characterized - Science Codex

Application closing date:13/01/2020Faculty / School or Service:Faculty of Health and Life SciencesSalary:51,044.00 - 63,684.00 per annumPackage:As one of Coventry's biggest employers, we offer some pretty impressive benefits including an excellent pension scheme and generous holiday allowances.Job category/type:Academic

Job description

Research within the Centre for Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences (CSELS), at Coventry University, reflects a broad range of sport, exercise and biological sciences to understand life from the molecular level through to the whole body. The Centre has considerable expertise, ranging from microbiology, cell biology, genomic and molecular biology, biochemistry,nutritionand food science, safety pharmacology, physiology, physical activity and sport performance.

As part of Coventry Universitys Research Strategy 2021 it is increasing its investment in quality research excellence with impact. As a result the Centre is looking to appoint a range of senior academic staff to provide strategic leadership in the management of our research. The fields of research expertise include; Therapeutics and Disease Prevention, Clinical and Molecular Exercise Physiology and Physical Activity, Exercise and Sport.

The following vacancies are currently available:

The successful candidates will have a PhD in a relevant subject, along with a track record of securing significant external funding and a substantial record of research and publications or other forms of dissemination (such as policy advice) in a relevant field, commensurate with a 3* REF rating. The post holders would be expected to have an international reputation with the ability to attract world-class academics to collaborate within their field of Research.

In addition you will be expected to seek and obtain funding to support the development of further research activities, conduct and publish original research and supervise research students working in this field. Developing the academic and commercial potential within the Centre to ensure this continues to reflect the leadership of Interdisciplinary Research whilst delivering excellence with impact in line with our Corporate Strategy.

These role provides a unique opportunity to join one of the UKs most forward thinking and successful modern Universities at a time of rapid expansion in our research capacity. The positions will be based in our new purpose-built research laboratories on the Coventry city campus.

If would like to find out more about this exciting opportunity please contact, Executive Director of the Centre, Professor Helen Maddockhelen.maddock@coventry.ac.ukTo find out more about our work and to tell us more about how you can contribute, visit ourwebsite

Click here for Job Description and Person Specification

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Associate Professor in Psychology of Physical Activity and Health job with COVENTRY UNIVERSITY | 190233 - Times Higher Education (THE)

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Newswise SILVER SPRING, Md.--A new analysis suggests that the increasing average body size of people on Earth, in addition to the growing world population may further challenge attempts to reduce man-made carbon dioxide emissions, according to a paper published online inObesity, the flagship journal of The Obesity Society.

All oxygen-dependent organisms on the planet produce carbon dioxide as a result of metabolic processes necessary to sustain life. Total carbon dioxide production from any species is linked to the average metabolic rate, the average body size and the total number of individuals of the species.

People with obesity have greater carbon dioxide production from oxidative metabolism than individuals with normal weight. Also, maintenance of greater body weights requires more food and drinks to be produced and transported to the consumers. Similarly, transportation of heavier people is associated with increased consumption of fossil fuels. This results in additional carbon dioxide emissions related to food production and transportation processes. Globally, obesity was estimated to contribute to an extra 700 megatons of carbon dioxide emissions per year or about 1.6 percent of all man-made emissions.

The authors emphasize that it is critically important that this new information does not lead to more weight stigmatization. People with obesity already suffer from negative attitudes and discrimination, and numerous studies have documented several prevalent stereotypes.

"This study makes it clear that we pay a steep price for making it difficult to access care for obesity. Not only does obesity affect the health of the individuals who have it, untreated obesity might also contribute to environmental issues," said Ted Kyle, RPh, MBA, founder of ConscienHealth, who was not involved in the research.

Physical activity is also associated with much more carbon dioxide being produced compared with rest, but no one will ever think of stigmatizing people who exercise for having a negative effect on the environment, according to Boyd Swinburn, MB ChB, FRACP, MD, FNZCPHM, in the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Swinburn wrote a commentary on the paper.

"Our analysis suggests that, in addition to beneficial effects on morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs, managing obesity can favorably affect the environment as well," said Faidon Magkos, of the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. "This has important implications for all those involved in the management of obesity." Magkos is the corresponding author of the paper.

To assess the impact of obesity on the environment, researchers used the standard definitions of obesity (body mass index of greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2) and normal weight (body mass index of less than 25). Calculations were made of the extra emission of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) from the increased oxidative metabolism, the increased food production and consumption and the increased fuel used to transport the greater body weight of people with obesity.

Compared with an individual with normal weight, researchers found an individual with obesity produces an extra 81 kg/y of carbon dioxide emissions from higher metabolism, an extra 593 kg/y of carbon dioxide emissions from greater food and drink consumption and an extra 476 kg/y of carbon dioxide emissions from car and air transportation. Overall, obesity is associated with approximately 20 percent greater greenhouse gas emissions when compared to people with normal weight.

"Harmonizing data from epidemiology (prevalence rates of obesity), physiology (total energy intake and expenditure) and environmental science (carbon dioxide emissions from different sources) is not a straightforward task, and we emphasize that our estimates are not intended to be precise, but rather be reasonable enough," said Magkos.

In the commentary accompanying the paper, Swinburn said the estimates add valuable information to the growing literature examining the nexus between obesity and climate change. He added, "while the contribution of obesity to greenhouse gas emissions is small, acting on the underlying drivers of them both is of paramount importance."

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Other authors of the study include Inge Tetens, Simon Ronnow Schacht, Susanne Gjedsted Bgel and Arne Astrup of the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Claus Felby of the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management at the University of Copenhagen also co-authored the paper. Other authors include James Hill of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Eric Ravussin of Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La.

The study, titled "The Environmental Foodprint of Obesity" will be published in the January 2020 print issue.

The Obesity Society (TOS) is the leading organization of scientists and health professionals devoted to understanding and reversing the epidemic of obesity and its adverse health, economic and societal effects. Combining the perspective of researchers, clinicians, policymakers and patients, TOS promotes innovative research, education, and evidence-based clinical care to improve the health and well-being of all people with obesity. For more information, visithttp://www.obesity.organd connect with us onFacebook,TwitterandLinkedIn.

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Study suggests obesity associated with greater greenhouse gas emissions - Newswise

Air pollution is associated with detrimental effects on human health, including increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Research published today (December 15, 2019) in The Journal of Physiology by researchers at The University of Manchester shows that the knowledge we have about how pollution harms the hearts of marine species can be applied to humans, as the underlying mechanisms are similar. In other words, knowledge gained from the marine ecosystem might help protect the climate and health of our planet, whilst also helping human health.

Around 11,000 coronary heart disease and stroke deaths in the UK each year are attributable to air pollution, specifically due to particulate matter (PM), or small particles in the air that cause health problems. PM2.5 is one of the finest and most dangerous type of PM, is a compound for which the UK has failed to meet EU limits.

Researchers of this study looked across all vertebrates and particularly focused on a set of compounds that binds to the surface of PM, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) as the amount of PAH on PM is associated with the detrimental affect air pollution has on the heart.

While air pollution is known to be dangerous to humans, it actually only became a widely-researched topic in the past five years or so. In marine species, however, the mechanism of how PAH pollution causes heart problems is well understood.

Studies after the 1999 Exxon Valdez oil spill showed that the ecosystem still has not recovered 20 years on. In 2010, research on fish after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which released large quantities of PAHs into the marine environment, showed that the hearts ability to contract was impaired.

Dr. Holly Shiels, senior author on the study, from The University of Manchester said:

Pollution affects all of us living on Planet Earth. Due to the conserved nature of cardiac function amongst animals, fish exposed to PAH from oil spills can serve as indicators, providing significant insights into the human health impacts of PAHs and PM air pollution.

Dr. Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, which partly funded the research presented in this review, commented:

We know that air pollution can have a hugely damaging effect on heart and circulatory health, and this review summarises mechanisms potentially contributing to impaired heart function. Reducing air pollution is crucial to protecting our heart health, which is why the BHF is calling on the next Government to commit to reducing air pollution to within WHO limits.

Reference: Polyaromatic hydrocarbons in pollution: A heartbreaking matter by C. R. Marris, S. N. Kompella, M. R. Miller, J. P. Incardona, F. Brette, J. C. Hancox, E. Srhus and H. A. Shiels, 15 December 2019, The Journal of Physiology.DOI: 10.1113/JP278885

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Air Pollution Is Breaking Our Hearts: Particulate Matter Leads to Thousands of Deaths per Year - SciTechDaily