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Vettori reclaims top spot in ICC rankings for ODI bowlers

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:43:00 -0500

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has made a superb start to 2009 by becoming the number-one ranked ODI bowler in the world again.

The left-arm spinner, who turns 30 later this month, has taken six wickets in the first three matches of the current series against the West Indies at an impressive average of just 12.33 and a thrifty economy rate of 3.08.

In the process he has moved above Australia’s Nathan Bracken into top spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers.

It is not the first time Vettori has been at the summit, having spent much of the first half of last year in first position. But Bracken toppled him in June 2008, coincidentally also while playing against the West Indies, but now the 31-year-old New South Welshman has been consigned to second spot once again.

Nevertheless, Bracken has the perfect opportunity to retake number-one place having been named in Australia’s one-day squad for the upcoming five-ODI series against South Africa.

Things are continuing to go well for Vettori’s team-mate Kyle Mills as his four wickets claimed in the series so far have earned him another place and put him in fourth, just ahead of Mitchell Johnson of Australia.

West Indies fast bowler Daren Powell has managed to move up two places to 17th position in the bowling rankings following a good start to the ODI series in New Zealand for him.

The big mover is young Black Cap Tim Southee who has managed to gain 20 places to put him in 75th position.

Another top-class player who has not fired on all cylinders during this series to date is West Indies talisman Chris Gayle. The hard-hitting left-hander has lost one place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen and has dropped out of the top five, into sixth position.

His place has been taken by India’s Yuvraj Singh, who returns to the top five after a brief spell occupying sixth place. Top spot is still reserved for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is closely followed by Michael Hussey of Australia in second place and Proteas’ captain Graeme Smith in third. (ANI)

Antipsychotic drugs ‘double death risk in Alzheimer’s patients’

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:42:00 -0500

Anti-psychotic drugs prescribed to treat aggression in Alzheimer''s patients can double their risk of dying, according to a study published in the journal Lancet.

The study, funded by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, was led by Prof Clive Ballard’s King’s College London team.

To reach the conclusion, researchers reviewed 165 Alzheimer’s patients who were being prescribed antipsychotics.

Eighty three continued treatment and the remaining 82 had it withdrawn and were instead given oral placebos.

Findings showed a significant increase in risk of death for patients who continued taking antipsychotic medication. The difference between the two groups became more pronounced over time, with 24-month survival rates for antipsychotic-treated patients falling to 46 percent versus 71 percent on the placebo and at 36 months it was 30 percent versus 59 percent.

This implies that after three years, less than a third of people on antipsychotics were alive compared to nearly two thirds using the dummy drug.

Antipsychotics are used to treat symptoms of agitation, delusions and aggressive behaviour. (ANI)

Genetic evidence indicates first Americans arrived as two separate migrations

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:42:00 -0500

In a new study, genetic evidence has revealed that the first Americans arrived as two separate migrations, traveling in different groups to arrive in their new home at about the same time.

After the Last Glacial Maximum some 15,000 to 17,000 years ago, one group entered North America from Beringia following the ice-free Pacific coastline, while another traversed an open land corridor between two ice sheets to arrive directly into the region east of the Rocky Mountains.

Those first Americans later gave rise to almost all modern Native American groups of North, Central, and South America, according to researchers from Universita di Pavia, Italy.

“Recent data based on archeological evidence and environmental records suggest that humans entered the Americas from Beringia as early as 15,000 years ago, and the dispersal occurred along the deglaciated Pacific coastline,” said Antonio Torroni of Universita di Pavia, Italy.

“Our study now reveals a novel alternative scenario: Two almost concomitant paths of migration, both from Beringia about 15,000 to 17,000 years ago, led to the dispersal of Paleo-Indians—the first Americans,” he explained.

Such a dual origin for Paleo-Indians has major implications for all disciplines involved in Native American studies.

For instance, it implies that there is no compelling reason to presume that a single language family was carried along with the first migrants.

When Columbus reached the Americas in 1492, Native American occupation stretched from the Bering Strait to Tierra del Fuego.

Those native populations encompassed extraordinary linguistic and cultural diversity, which has fueled extensive debate among experts over their interrelationships and origins.

Recently, molecular genetics, together with archaeology and linguistics, has begun to provide some insights.

In the new study, Ugo Perego and Alessandro Achilli of Torroni’s team analyzed mitochondrial DNA from two rare haplogroups, meaning mitochondrial types that share a common maternal ancestor.

Mitochondria are cellular components with their own DNA that allow scientists to trace ancestry and migration because they are passed on directly from mother to child over generations.

Their results show that the haplogroup called D4h3 spread from Beringia into the Americas along the Pacific coastal route, rapidly reaching Tierra del Fuego.

The other haplogroup, X2a, spread at about the same time through the ice-free corridor between the Laurentide and Cordilleran Ice Sheets and remained restricted to North America.

“A dual origin for the first Americans is a striking novelty from the genetic point of view and makes plausible a scenario positing that within a rather short period of time, there may have been several entries into the Americas from a dynamically changing Beringian source,” the researchers concluded. (ANI)

Global warming may leave half of world''s population without food by 2100

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:42:00 -0500

Global warming is likely to give rise to severe food shortage by the end of this century, according to researchers, who claim that the rapidly warming climate may alter crop yields in the tropics and subtropics.

And the worst hit will be the regions where the poorest people already live that is the tropics and subtropics.

According to the researchers, there is greater than a 90 percent probability that by 2100 the lowest growing-season temperatures in the tropics and subtropics will be higher than any temperatures recorded there to date.

"The stresses on global food production from temperature alone are going to be huge, and that doesn''t take into account water supplies stressed by the higher temperatures," said David Battisti, a University of Washington atmospheric sciences professor.

"This is a compelling reason for us to invest in adaptation, because it is clear that this is the direction we are going in terms of temperature and it will take decades to develop new food crop varieties that can better withstand a warmer climate.

"We are taking the worst of what we''ve seen historically and saying that in the future it is going to be a lot worse unless there is some kind of adaptation," he added.

During the study, the researchers combined direct observations with 23 global climate models that contributed to Nobel prize-winning research in 2007 and used the data as a filter to view historic instances of severe food insecurity,

They concluded that such instances are likely to become more commonplace.

Those include severe episodes in France in 2003 and the Ukraine in 1972. In the case of the Ukraine, a near-record heat wave reduced wheat yields and contributed to disruptions in the global cereal market that lasted two years.

The serious climate issues will not be limited to the tropics, the scientists conclude.

As an example, they cite record temperatures that struck Western Europe in June, July and August of 2003, killing an estimated 52,000 people.

The summer-long heat wave in France and Italy cut wheat yields and fodder production by one-third. In France alone, temperatures were nearly 6.5 degrees Fahrenheit above the long-term mean, and the scientists say such temperatures could be normal for France by 2100.

In the tropics, the higher temperatures can be expected to cut yields of the primary food crops, maize and rice, by 20 to 40 percent, the researchers said. But rising temperatures also are likely to play havoc with soil moisture, cutting yields even further.

"We have to be rethinking agriculture systems as a whole, not only thinking about new varieties but also recognizing that many people will just move out of agriculture, and even move from the lands where they live now," Naylor said.

Temperature increases from climate change are expected to be less in equatorial regions than at higher latitudes, but because average temperatures in the tropics today are much higher than at midlatitudes, rising temperature will have a greater impact on crop yields in the tropics.

The research appears in journal Science. (ANI)

Mosquitoes’ pesky ‘buzz’ is actually sweet mating duet

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:41:00 -0500

Scientists already know that the annoying buzz of a mosquito is the sound of love. But now, a new study has shown that males and females flap their wings and change their tune to create a harmonic duet just before mating.

For the study, Cornell University researchers recorded mosquito sound to study how they use it in mating.

They found that male and female mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti), which can spread such diseases as yellow and dengue fevers, ‘interact acoustically with each other when the two are within earshot – a few centimetres of each other.’

"The frequency at which males and females converge is a harmonic or multiple of their wing-beat frequencies, which is approximately 400 hertz [vibrations per second] for the female and 600 hertz for the male," said Ron Hoy, professor of neurobiology and behaviour.

The mating duet, generated just before the couple mates on the fly, settles at around 1,200 hertz -- roughly an octave and a half above concert A (the pitch to which instruments are tuned -- the A that has a frequency of 440 hertz and is above middle C).

"That is significantly higher than what was previously thought to be mosquitoes'' upper hearing limit," he added.

Interestingly, the mosquitoes adjust the harmonic resonance of their thoracic box to produce a harmonic frequency that converges at a frequency that is the female''s third harmonic (three times her fundamental frequency) and the male''s second harmonic (two times his fundamental frequency).

To study mosquito-mating calls, the researchers tethered mosquitoes and flew them past each other while recording the flight tones with a special microphone.

Co-first author Benjamin Arthur, a postdoctoral researcher in Hoy''s laboratory, placed electrodes in the mosquitoes'' auditory organ in their antennae during playback to measure physiological responses of the mosquitoes to the sounds of potential mates.

According to the researchers, their study will offer new ways to better control of mosquito populations in places where yellow and dengue fevers are significant problems.

"By studying these flight tone signals, we may be able to determine what kind of information males and females consider important when choosing a mate. This will allow us to release ''sexy'' transgenic or sterilized males that will be able to successfully compete with wild populations," said co-first author Lauren Cator, a Cornell graduate student.

The study will be published in a February issue of Science. (ANI)

Floods will become commonplace by 2080

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:41:00 -0500

A new research has predicted that floods will become commonplace by the year 2080, especially across the UK.

The research, led by Dr Hayley Fowler, of Newcastle University, predicts that severe storms – the likes of which currently occur every five to 25 years across the UK – will become more common and more severe in a matter of decades.

Looking at ‘extreme rainfall events’, where rain falls steadily and heavily for between one and five days, the study predicts how the intensity of these storms may change in the future.

Dr Fowler found that across the UK, the amount of rain falling during one of these extreme events was likely to increase by up to 30 per cent by 2080.

This increase is most likely to occur in autumn, winter and spring when the ground is already saturated, posing the biggest threat of flooding.

“Predicting how extreme rainfall might change many years in the future is very difficult because events can be quite localised, especially in the summer,” explained Dr Fowler.

“You only have to think about how difficult it is for the Met office to predict the weather two or three days in advance – the overall picture for the country tends to stay the same but local weather patterns can change quite dramatically,” he added.

According to Dr Fowler, “By taking a much more detailed look at the results from different regional climate models, we have created a more accurate picture of how wet Britain will be by 2070.”

“What the data quite clearly shows is that we’re going to see far more of these extreme downpours in years to come, putting more and more homes at risk from flooding, particularly in autumn and winter months when the ground is already saturated,” he added.

Dr Fowler, who worked on the study with Dr Marie Ekstrom from Exeter University, examined seasonal rainfall data from 13 Regional Climate Models for nine regions across the UK and used this to study the projected changes.

Consistent with global warming, the team found that as the air becomes warmer and is able to hold more moisture, Britain will get wetter.

In general, the study suggests larger changes to the intensity of short duration extreme rainfall events – those lasting one or two days. Northern and western regions of the UK are predicted to be worst hit.

“What our data does show is that floods are no longer going to be freak events. All 13 models we looked at predict increases in extreme rainfall in winter, autumn and spring by the 2080s although the percent increase varies,” said Dr Fowler. (ANI)

Long-chain fats like oleic acid more likely to induce inflammation

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40:00 -0500

University of Kentucky scientists in the United States have revealed that long-chain fats like oleic acid, which is found in olive oil, are more prone to induce inflammation.

Erik Eckhardt and his colleagues say that long-chain fats seem to promote increased intestinal absorption of pro-inflammatory bacterial molecules called lipopolysaccharides (LPS).

While dietary fats that have short chains—such as those found in milk and cheese products—can be absorbed directly into the bloodstream from the intestines, long-chain fats need to be first packaged by the intestinal cells into particles known as chylomicrons—large complexes similar to HDL and LDL particles.

The researchers say that they wanted to determine whether some unwanted LPS particles, routinely shed by the bacteria that inhabit the human gut, might also be sneaking in the chylomicrons.

According to them, their hypothesis turned out to be correct.

Upon treating cultured human intestinal cells with oleic acid, the research team observed significant secretion of LPS together with the chylomicron particles, a phenomenon that was not observed when the cells were treated with short-chain butyric acid.

The researchers also refer to mouse studies that made similar findings, and showed that high amounts of dietary oleic acid, not butyric acid, promoted significant absorption of LPS into the blood and lymph nodes and subsequent expression of inflammatory genes.

Eckhardt believes that his team’s findings may pave the way for future therapies for Crohn''s disease and other inflammatory bowel disorders.

He also says that his study once again highlights the importance of the diverse bacteria that call our intestines home.

A research article on the study has been published in the January issue of JLR. (ANI)

Simple heart screening test for newborns could save thousands of lives

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40:00 -0500

Conducting a simple blood test for congenital heart problems on newborn babies could help save thousands of lives, says a new study.

According to study’s authors, routine screening of blood oxygen levels before discharge from hospital improves the detection of life threatening congenital heart disease in newborns and save lives.

The study has been published on the online British Medical Journal.

Between one and two babies per 1,000 live births enter the world with an immediately life-threatening heart condition - due to a foetal blood vessel remaining open - and current screening techniques fail to detect the abnormality in many newborns.

But the introduction of a pulse oximetry screening procedure - lasting around five minutes - could improve the detection of critical congenital heart disease.

Pulse oximetry screening is a fast and non-invasive procedure to measure the concentration of oxygen in the blood of newborns using a sensor placed on a hand, and in this study on a foot as well, for a few minutes before the baby leaves hospital.

A low concentration of oxygen could signal a heart problem and would require further investigation.

To reach the conclusion, Professor Ostman-Smith and colleagues at the Queen Silvia Children''s Hospital and Sahlgrenska Academy of Gothenburg University in Sweden screened nearly 40,000 babies born between July 1st 2004 and March 31st 2007.

The introduction of pulse oximetry screening in the West Gotaland region improved the total detection of duct dependent heart disease to 92 per cent, a significant increase on the 72 per cent detection rate in regions not using the screening technique.

The risk of leaving hospital with an undiagnosed duct dependent circulation was therefore eight per cent in West Gotaland compared to 28 per cent in the other regions.

The authors conclude: "Such screening seems cost neutral in the short term, but the probable prevention of neurological morbidity and reduced need for preoperative neonatal intensive care suggest that such screening will be cost effective long term." (ANI)

Women can sniff out men''s ''sexual sweat'' scent

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40:00 -0500

A man''s sweat might be the last thing a woman would think of during intimate moments, but her brain recognizes the scent and the significance of the emotions it conveys right away, claim Rice University scientists.

The study published in the Journal of Neuroscience found that socioemotional meanings, including sexual ones, are conveyed in human sweat.

To reach the conclusion, Denise Chen, assistant professor of psychology at Rice, looked at how the brains of female volunteers processed and encoded the smell of sexual sweat from men.

The results of the experiment indicated the brain recognizes chemosensory communication, including human sexual sweat.

The experiment directly studied natural human sexual sweat using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Nineteen healthy female subjects inhaled olfactory stimuli from four sources, one of which was sweat gathered from sexually aroused males.

The research showed that several parts of the brain are involved in processing the emotional value of the olfactory information. These include the right fusiform region, the right orbitofrontal cortex and the right hypothalamus.

"With the exception of the hypothalamus, neither the orbitofrontal cortex nor the fusiform region is considered to be associated with sexual motivation and behavior," Chen said.

"Our results imply that the chemosensory information from natural human sexual sweat is encoded more holistically in the brain rather than specifically for its sexual quality," the expert added.

Humans are evolved to respond to salient socioemotional information.
Distinctive neural mechanisms underlie the processing of emotions in facial and vocal expressions.

The findings help explain the neural mechanism for human social chemosignals. (ANI)

Scientists uncover ''epigenetic'' switch for new brain cells’ growth

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:38:00 -0500

A new study conducted by neuroscientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has shown that the birth of new cells, which depends on brain activity, is also influenced by a protein that is involved in changing epigenetic marks in the cell''s genetic material.

The finding reported in the journal Science takes the research team a step closer to unravelling the mystery as to what controls the birth of new cells in the brain’s hippocampus.

"How is it that when you see someone you met ten years ago, you still recognize them? How do these transient events become long lasting in the brain, and what potential role does the birth of new neurons play in making these memories?" says Hongjun Song, Ph.D., an associate professor of neurology and member of the Johns Hopkins Institute of Cell Engineering''s NeuroICE.

"We really want to understand how daily life experiences trigger the birth and growth of new neurons, and make long-lasting changes in the brain," the researcher added.

According to the researchers, making long-term memories might require long-term changes in brain cells, and one type of cellular change that has long-lasting effects is so-called epigenetic change that can alter a cell''s DNA without changing its sequence, but does change how and which genes are turned on or off.

Considering this reasoning, the researchers decided to look at the 40 to 50 genes known to be involved in epigenetics, and see whether any of them were turned on in mouse brain cells that had been stimulated with electroconvulsive therapy—shock treatment.

"It''s long been known that ECT induces neurogenesis in rodents and humans, so we used it as our test case to find what is triggered downstream to cause new cells to grow," says Song.

The researcher revealed that one gene turned on in response to ECT was Gadd45b, a gene previously implicated in immune system function and misregulated in brain conditions like autism.

With a view to determining that Gadd45b was turned up in response to brain activity, the team further examined mice experiencing a different activity. They found exposure to new surroundings also turned on Gadd45b in brain cells.

The researchers then tested mice engineered to lack the Gadd45b gene for their ability to generate new brain cells after ECT, in order to find out whether this gene is required for new brain-cell growth.

They injected the mice with a dye that marks new cells, and three days after ECT, examined the number of new cells containing that dye in brains from mice with and without the Gdd45b gene.

It was observed that while normal brains showed a 140 percent increase in cell number after ECT, brains lacking Gadd45b only showed a 40 percent increase.

"The question then was, How does Gadd45b do this? It''s been controversial that Gadd45b can promote epigenetic changes like global DNA demethylation, but we show that it can promote demethylation of certain genes," says Song.

When the researchers dissected mature neurons from normal mouse brains and looked for the presence of methyl groups at certain genes known to promote cell growth, they found that the genes had become demethylated after ECT.

However, doing the same thing with mice lacking Gadd45b did not result in demethylation, suggesting that the gene was indeed required for demethylation.

"We''re really excited about this—it''s the first time we''ve seen dynamic epigenetic DNA changes in response to brain activity," says Song.

"Now that we have the mice lacking Gadd45b, our next goal is to see if these mice have problems with learning and memory and how Gadd45b specifically promotes the demethylation to lead to these long-term changes in the brain." (ANI)