It looks like family does matter.
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Friday, May 10, 2013
Human impacts on natural world underestimated
May 8, 2013 ? A comprehensive five-year study by University of Calgary ecologists -- which included monitoring the activity of wolves, elk, cattle and humans -- indicates that two accepted principles of how ecosystems naturally operate could be overshadowed by the importance of human activity.
"Understanding the significance of the impact that humans have on ecosystems is a critical component in formulating long-term and effective conservation strategies," says principal investigator Marco Musiani.
"Our results led us to believe that ecologists have underestimated the impact of humans on natural food chains. The data we collected shows that humans are deliberately or inadvertently engineering ecosystems regardless of whether they would be naturally pre-disposed to top-down or bottom-up effects. Even in protected areas, the influence of humans might be greater than we previously thought."
Ecologists have long debated whether natural ecosystems and associated food chains are primarily regulated by predators or by the productivity of plant species, called top-down and bottom-up effects, respectively. With most of the world's ecosystems now dominated by humans, researchers from the University of Calgary sought to understand how much people influenced food chains in southwest Alberta.
Lead author Tyler Muhly, PhD, said the study -- a collaboration between NSERC, Shell Canada, Parks Canada, the Alberta Government and the Universities of Alberta, Calgary and Montana -- relied upon dozens of high-tech animal tagging devices and motion sensor-activated cameras to study human, animal and plant distribution throughout southwest Alberta. The research area stretched from Calgary in the northeast, through to the provincial borders with British Columbia in the west and the US-Canada border in the south. "We painstakingly monitored wolves, elk, cattle and plant species, as well as humans for five years. We evaluated how these species interacted across the landscape and ultimately found that humans dominated the ecosystem," Muhly says.
"In particular, we found that forage-mediated effects of humans (bottom-up effects) were more influential than predator-mediated effects in the food chain. The presence of humans was most correlated with occurrence of forage (plants). Elk and cattle distribution correlated closely with forage, and the distribution of wolves matched that of the elk and cattle they view as potential prey.
"Our results contrast with research conducted in protected areas that suggested food chains are primarily regulated by predators. Rather, we found that humans influenced other species in the food chain in a number of direct and indirect ways, thus overshadowing top-down and bottom-up effects," Muhly says.
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Jason Cole / Prospective NFL head coach, GM candidates get business lessons at league symposium
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Thursday, May 9, 2013
ev-anouir: Spirit Island, Alberta, Canada
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Source: http://home-of-amazons.tumblr.com/post/49922993018
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Restless legs syndrome, insomnia and brain chemistry: A tangled mystery solved?
May 7, 2013 ? Johns Hopkins researchers believe they may have discovered an explanation for the sleepless nights associated with restless legs syndrome (RLS), a symptom that persists even when the disruptive, overwhelming nocturnal urge to move the legs is treated successfully with medication.
Neurologists have long believed RLS is related to a dysfunction in the way the brain uses the neurotransmitter dopamine, a chemical used by brain cells to communicate and produce smooth, purposeful muscle activity and movement. Disruption of these neurochemical signals, characteristic of Parkinson's disease, frequently results in involuntary movements. Drugs that increase dopamine levels are mainstay treatments for RLS, but studies have shown they don't significantly improve sleep. An estimated 5 percent of the U.S. population has RLS.
The small new study, headed by Richard P. Allen, Ph.D., an associate professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, used MRI to image the brain and found glutamate -- a neurotransmitter involved in arousal -- in abnormally high levels in people with RLS. The more glutamate the researchers found in the brains of those with RLS, the worse their sleep.
The findings are published in the May issue of the journal Neurology. "We may have solved the mystery of why getting rid of patients' urge to move their legs doesn't improve their sleep," Allen says. "We may have been looking at the wrong thing all along, or we may find that both dopamine and glutamate pathways play a role in RLS."
For the study, Allen and his colleagues examined MRI images and recorded glutamate activity in the thalamus, the part of the brain involved with the regulation of consciousness, sleep and alertness. They looked at images of 28 people with RLS and 20 people without. The RLS patients included in the study had symptoms six to seven nights a week persisting for at least six months, with an average of 20 involuntary movements a night or more.
The researchers then conducted two-day sleep studies in the same individuals to measure how much rest each person was getting. In those with RLS, they found that the higher the glutamate level in the thalamus, the less sleep the subject got. They found no such association in the control group without RLS.
Previous studies have shown that even though RLS patients average less than 5.5 hours of sleep per night, they rarely report problems with excessive daytime sleepiness. Allen says the lack of daytime sleepiness is likely related to the role of glutamate, too much of which can put the brain in a state of hyperarousal -- day or night.
If confirmed, the study's results may change the way RLS is treated, Allen says, potentially erasing the sleepless nights that are the worst side effect of the condition. Dopamine-related drugs currently used in RLS do work, but many patients eventually lose the drug benefit and require ever higher doses. When the doses get too high, the medication actually can make the symptoms much worse than before treatment. Scientists don't fully understand why drugs that increase the amount of dopamine in the brain would work to calm the uncontrollable leg movement of RLS.
Allen says there are already drugs on the market, such as the anticonvulsive gabapentin enacarbil, that can reduce glutamate levels in the brain, but they have not been given as a first-line treatment for RLS patients.
RLS wreaks havoc on sleep because lying down and trying to relax activates the symptoms. Most people with RLS have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. Only getting up and moving around typically relieves the discomfort. The sensations range in severity from uncomfortable to irritating to painful.
"It's exciting to see something totally new in the field -- something that really makes sense for the biology of arousal and sleep," Allen says.
As more is understood about this neurobiology, the findings may not only apply to RLS, he says, but also to some forms of insomnia. The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS075184 and NS044862), the National Institute on Aging (P10-AG21190) and the National Center for Research Resources (M01RR02719).
Allen has received honoraria serving on advisory boards from impax, Pfizer and UCB and honoraria for scientific lectures, consultancy and research support from UCB, GSK, Pfizer and Pharmacosmos.
Other Johns Hopkins researchers involved in the study include Peter B. Barker, D.Phil.; Alena Horska, Ph.D.; and Christopher J. Earley, M.D., Ph.D.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/gX3YKKoc4qM/130507134600.htm
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LAPD: 3 parties to split $1 million Dorner reward
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The vast majority of the $1 million reward for ending the manhunt for Christopher Dorner will go to a couple who was tied up at gunpoint in their Big Bear cabin by the rogue ex-cop, Los Angeles police said Tuesday.
The LAPD posted a document on its website in which a panel of three judges detailed the payouts for the much-sought reward.
They decided about $800,000 will go to James and Karen Reynolds. Fifteen percent will go to Daniel McGowan, who found Dorner's burning truck in the Big Bear area where he eventually was discovered, and 5 percent will go to tow-truck driver R.L. McDaniel, who spotted Dorner at a Corona gas station earlier in the manhunt and reported the sighting.
The $1 million reward was announced by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa during Dorner's rampage in February.
Dorner had vowed warfare on Los Angeles Police Department officers and their families for what he called an unfair firing. He killed four people, including two law enforcement officers, during his nearly one-week run from authorities that ended with his death on Feb. 12.
Multiple parties came forward claiming they provided the key tip that ultimately led Dorner to hole up in a vacant mountain cabin where he apparently took his own life after a shootout with law enforcement officers.
Among those who laid claim to the reward was a camp ranger whose truck was taken by Dorner. He filed a lawsuit seeking the $1 million last week.
During their ordeal, the Reynolds were held up at gunpoint and tied up before Dorner stole their purple Nissan SUV to escape.
After escaping her constraints, Karen called authorities, identified Dorner, gave the location of the cabin and the Nissan's description. Less than half an hour later he was spotted by Fish and Wildlife wardens and a chase ensued.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lapd-3-parties-split-1-million-dorner-002623994.html
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Intel to launch campaign across India to promote good old PC ...
Intel targets to reach out to large number of teachers and learners across India to spread awareness about the importance of PCs and IT technologies.
To explain how a PC can change their lives, the company has launched a nationwide integrated campaign to increase the relevance and demand of personal computing devices and drive domestic adoption of technology.
?The campaign will reach out to consumers in a targeted manner across ten states through a series of interventions in the form of advertisement and others,? Sandeep Aurora, Director Marketing and Market Development, Intel South Asia, told reporters Tuesday.
An awareness programme under the campaign will be held this weekend in the city, he said.
Intel logo in this file photo. Reuters
?In our quest to bring about nationwide awareness for digital literacy, we will continue to scale our efforts under the National Digital Literacy Mission and through this new campaign, we will urge consumers to pursue their passions and creativity with an Intel processor powered computers,? he said.
He said the Digital literacy mission was launched by the company in collaboration with NASSCOM and a few other players last year in order to enhance digital literacy in India.
Aurora informed that the company under this programme plans to cover 1.8 million teachers, 2 million learners as well as higher education students and faculty members in colleges this year.
PTI