Everyday,Jorinasacrificesherbasicneedstocareforherfamily.Despitebeingninemonthspregnant,sheeatslastinherhousehold,feedingonthescrapsleftbehindbyherhusbandandchildren.Asaresult,Jorinaismalnourished.Herstoryisnotunique,however;millionsofwomenworldwidesufferfrommaternalmalnutrition.
Inthestudy,28participantswererecruitedfromtheslumandinterviewedabouthouseholdfoodprovisioningpractices.Thegroupwascomprisedofpregnantwomen,theirhusbands,relatives,anddeliveryattendants.
Aparticipantinthestudy
“Intheurbansettingtheyknewaboutthemwhenyouaskedthemaboutthemandtheyoftenlaughedaboutthem,butitwasnotsomethingtheyconsideredasanyofthereasoningofwhattheyateonadailybasis.”
AnotherimportantfactorthatAdrienneconsideredwasgenderorder.Bangladeshisapatriarchalsocietywherewomen’smobilityanddecision-makingisrestricted.Bangladeshiwomen,especiallythoseinruralareas,arestronglydiscouragedfromgoingtopublicplaces,suchasthemarket.Thislimitsawoman’saccesstonutritiousfood.
However,Adriennefoundthatthesegenderrulesarerelaxing.Forinstance,manyofthewomenreportedthattheyoftenwenttothemarketunchaperoned.“Thereisnoproblematallwithmegoingtobazar[sic]alone,”saysMokta,a19-year-oldpregnantwoman.Moreover,womennowhaveagreatersayinthetypesoffoodthatarebought.
AlthoughBangladeshiwomennowhaveincreasedknowledgeofhealthyeatingandincreasedmobilityduetorelaxinggendernorms,ratesofmaternalmalnutritionarestillhighbecauseofrisingfoodprices.
Thepodcastbelowcoverstherootcauseofrisingfoodprices,howrisingfoodpricescontributetomalnutrition,andpossiblesolutions.
BecauseofresearchlikeMs.Levay’s,newdevelopmentgoalscanbedesignedthatwillgivewomenlikeJorinahopeforthefuture.
Formoreinformation,feelfreetowatchthisvideoonMs.Levay’sresearch.
ByFardowsaYusuf,MariaBui,SamuelChoi,andZohaibMahmood.
Reference:
AgroupofresearchersattheUniversityofBritishColumbiarecentlyfoundthatsealampreys,anancientspeciesofjawlessfish,appeartorespondtostressmuchmoredifferentlythanscientistsoriginallythought.
Clickimagetoenlarge.Simplifieddiagramoftheclassicstressresponseseeninmanyvertebrates.Source:JennyLabrie.
Theresearchersfoundthat,similartootheranimalsandtofish,lampreysdorespondtoCRHwithincreasedlevelsofstress.CRHisaprecursortostresshormonesindifferentspecies;inhumansitiscortisol,whichhasbeenpopularisedoverthepastfewdecadesastheconceptof“stress”hasreceivedincreasingamountsofattention–bothfromacademiaandthepopularmedia.ThelampreysinjectedwithCRHdisplayedincreasesintheirowntypeofcortisol,indicatingthattheywereindeedexperiencingstressinresponse,justashumanswould.
Unexpectedly,thelampreysdidnotrespondtoseveraltypesofACTHthattheywereinjectedwith.Inbothhumansandotherfish,ACTHisthehormonethatisreleasedinresponsetoCRHandeventuallystimulatescortisolrelease,whichcausesclassicsignsofanactivatedstressresponse(e.g.,increasedheartrate).
WhatdoesthismeanWell,yes,scientistswereonceagainmistaken;lampreysarenotjustlikeeveryotherfish.ButwhyshouldthismatterWhocaresaboutthis505-million-year-oldfish
Perhapsforthisreasonaloneitisworthwhiletostrivetoconservelampreyspecies,andthisresearchdoesalsohaveimplicationsforprotectionofcertainlampreys,asdiscussedinthepodcastbelow.
Text,video,andpodcastbyJennyLabrie,KellyLiu,RubinaLo,andKathyTran.
References
Close,D.A.;Yun,S-S.;Roberts,B.W.;Didier,W.;Rai,S.;Johnson,N.S.;andLibants,S.(2013).Regulationofaputativecorticosteroid,17,21-dihydroxypregn-4-ene,3,20-one,insealamprey,Petromyzonmarinus.GeneralandComparativeEndocrinology,196:17-25.
Kimura,M.(1969).Therateofmolecularevolutionconsideredfromthestandpointofpopulationgenetics.ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciencesoftheUSA,63(4):1181-1188.
Nikitina,N.;Bronner-Fraser,M.;andSauka-Spengler,T.(2009).ThesealampreyPetromyzonmarinas:amodelforevolutionaryanddevelopmentalbiology.InK.Behringer(Ed.),Emergingmodelorganisms:alaboratorymanual(pp.405-421).ColdSpringHarbor,NY:CSHLPress.
Furtherreading
Lampreysinthenews
Everyyear,billionsofanimalstravellongdistancesinaprocesscalledmigration.Althoughanimalmigrationhasoccurredformillionsofyears,andisthelargestbiologicaleventonEarth,thereisstillalotthatscientistsdonotunderstand.
Light-levelgeolocatorPhoto:MorganHaines
Notonlydosongbirdsprovidenaturalmusic,theyareimportantfortheecosystem.Ifwecontinuetoseedeclinesintheirpopulations,manyotherspecieswillalsosuffer.
Kira’sfindingshavehelpedidentifyseverallocationsthatareimportanttotheSwainson’sThrush.“Theseguysaremigratinghugedistances,they’retiny,theyneedtoacquirealltheresourcestheycanwhentheystop.Soitsreallyimportantthattheselocationsareconservedsotheycanacquirethoseresourcestocompletethismigration.”
Thefollowingpodcastcontainsmoreinformationontheimportanceofsongbirdsandtheirconservation.
Beingabletounderstandtheimpactofmigratorydivideswillhelpresearchersgaininsightsintoevolution.Now,Kiraistryingtouncover“thegenesthatareassociatedwithmigrationandmigratoryroutes.”
Light-levelgeolocatorsaresmallerthanaquarter,yetarepoisedtohelpsolveamysteryaslargeastheEarthitself.Itstandsasatestamenttothepowerofscience;itsabilitytousesomethingsosmalltohelpunderstandsomethingsobig.
ByMorganHaines,QianhuiSun,andNitishKhosla
Delmore,K.E.,Fox,J.W.,&Irwin,D.E.(2012).Dramaticintraspecificdifferencesinmigratoryroutes,stopoversitesandwinteringareas,revealedusinglight-levelgeolocators.Proceedings.BiologicalSciences/theRoyalSociety,279(1747),4582.
HaveyoueverhadaconversationthatwassoboringthatyoufoundyourselftuningoutDidyouinsteadfindyourselffocusingonsomeothernoisebeitaconversationnearbyorthechirpingofabird
Thehumanearhastheincredibleabilitytofocusonsoundsofspecificfrequencieswhilesimultaneouslyfilteringoutbackgroundnoise.Thisiswhywecansustainconversationsinloudatmospheres.Howthehumanearcarriesoutthisincrediblefeathasbeenunknownuntilrecently.
Liningtheinsideofthecochleaaresmallhaircellsthatarecoveredbythetectorialmembrane.Thetectorialmembranehassmallporesknownasnanopores(onaverage40nmindiameterinmice).Whenthevibrationsreachthecochlea,thetectorialmembranewithinslidesbackandforthoverthelayerofhaircells.Thisinduceselectricalsignalstobesenttoaspecialpartofthebrainthatprocessessound.Youcanthinkofthetectorialmembraneasacarpetslidingacrossawoodenfloorandthefrictionthatarisesastheelectricalsignalstriggered.
So,whatdidtheresearchersfind
Theresearchershad2mainfindings.Firstly,theyfoundthatmicewithsmallerporesintheirtectorialmembranescouldfocusonsoundsoversmallerfrequencyrangeswhilethosewithlargerporescouldnotfocusonsoundsaswell.Secondly,theyfoundthatmicewithlargerporescouldhearsoundsoveragreaterrangeoffrequencies(theyhaveagreateroverallsoundsensitivity)ascomparedtomicewithsmallerpores.Therefore,optimalhearingisachievedbyintermediatesizedpores.
WhatmakesthisstudyparticularlyexcitingisthatScientistshaveyettomakehearingaidsthatcanselectfrequencieslikethenaturaleardoes.Withthesenewfindingsbetterhearingaidscanbeproduced.
So,thenexttimesomeonecatchesyounotlisteningtothemyoucanalwaysblameyourtectoidmembrane!
FardowsaYusuf
Vdeocomparingthehookahandcigarettes
ZohaibMahmood
REFERENCES:
Asimpletasklikejoggingcanleadtobettermemory
WorkCited
Nikolaidis,A.,Voss,M.,Loan,V.,Erickson,K.,&Art,K.(2013).Fmricorrelatesoftransferintrainingwithacomplextask.JournalofCognitiveNeuroscience,,162-162.
VanPraag,H.,Shubert,T.,Zhao,C.,&Gage,F.(2005).Exerciseenhanceslearningandhippocampalneurogenesisinagedmice.JournalofNeuroscience,25(38),8680-8685.doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1731-05-2005
Belowisaanimatedvideodescribingwhyweyawn:
Overall,ageandempathyseemtoonlyexplainverylittleofthevariabilityinthecontagiousyawnresponse.Thisleavesmuchforresearchersandfuturescientiststoexplore.Despitealltheunansweredquestionsthatstillremain,onethingsisforcertain:Yawnsareveryindeedverycontagious.
Howmanytimeshaveyouyawnedalready
By:KimberleyXiao
References:
Redwinesoundsromanticandtastesgood,butitcaneasilygetyoudrunkandseriouslyharmyou,bothphysicallyandmentally.However,someresearchersfoundthatredwinecanhelppeoplelookyoungerandreducetherisksofsufferingheartdiseases.Peopleareexcitedtohearthat,butisitreallythecase
Figure1.RedWine.(ImagebyAlexBrownviaflickr)
Obviously,therearesomebeneficialcompoundsintheredwine,andbydrinkingredwinewecanintakealotofthem.However,whiletherearesomebenefits,itisstillimportanttobeawareofthesignificantnegativeeffectsofalcohol.Alcoholincreasestheriskofgettingcancers,suchasliver,mouth,andbreastcancer.Italsoirritatesthestomach,andcausesulcers.Also,alcoholabusingisaseriousproblem.Manypeopledrinkexcessiveamountsoncetheystart,whichwilloutweighthebenefitsofredwine.Largequantitiesofalcoholwillincreasetheworkloadofliveranddamageourbraincells.
Thefollowingvideofurtherexplainstheeffectsofdrinkingredwine.
Wecan’tsaythatredwineisonlybadforourhealth;however,theriskofdrinkingredwineismuchhigherthanthebenefits.Firstofall,mostofthestudiesweredoneonmiceandnotverifiedonhumans,andthesemicewerefedonpureresveratrol.Therefore,ifonewantstoexperiencethesameresultasthemice,youneedtodrinkatleast80servingsperday,whichisobviouslyimpossible.Secondly,oneservingofwineisonlyfiveounces.Menshouldhavelessthentenouncesperday,andforwomen,onlyfiveounces.Itiseasilytodrinktoomuchiftheglassatyourhomeistoobig.Therefore,assuggestedinthevideo,weshouldnotstartdrinkingonlybecausewewishtoprotectourheartsorstayawayfromgettingwrinkles.Therearebeneficialcomponentsinredwine,butnotverysignificant.Comparedtoredwine,eatinggrapesordrinkingpomegranatejuicecanprovideahigherlevelofanti-agingandanti-oxidantcompoundstomakepeoplelookyounger.Nonetheless,ifyoualreadydrinkalot,justmakesuretokeep“everythinginmoderation”.Becarefulhowmuchyoudrink;eventhoughyouthinkyouarenotdrunk,yourbodycannotdigestthatamountofalcohol.
-QianhuiSun
ImagefromWikimediaCommons
AnotherchallengeKiserandhiscolleagueshadtodealwithwasthedevelopmentofthemechanismtoreleasethedrugsaccuratelyandefficiently.Tenofovirandlevonorgestrelareverydifferentfromoneanother;tenofovirisawatersolubledrugwhilelevonorgestreliswaterinsoluble.Theringalsohastodeliverdifferentdosagesofthetwodrugs,with10milligramsand10microgramsoftenofovirandlevonorgestrelreleasedeveryday,respectively.
Thankstothedevelopmentofthisnewring,womenwillbeabletonotonlypreventunplannedpregnancybutsexuallytransmitteddiseasesaswell.Womenlivingindevelopingcountries,inparticular,willgreatlybenefitfromthisintravaginalring.One-thirdofallpregnanciesindevelopingcountriesareunintended,andthesepregnanciescanhaveserioushealth,financial,andculturalconsequences.Inaddition,95%ofthoselivingwithHIVresideindevelopingcountries.Ifcondomsandthisvaginalringareusedtogether,sexwillbecomesaferforeveryone.
Clark,J.T.,Kiser,P.F.,Clark,M.R.,Shelke,N.B.,Johnson,T.J.,Smith,E.M.,Andreasen,A.K.,Nebeker,J.S.,Fabian,J.,andFriend,D.R.2014.EngineeringaSegmentedDual-ReservoirPolyurethaneIntravaginalRingforSimultaneousPreventionofHIVTransmissionandUnwantedPregnancy.PloSone.9(3):e88509.
Figure2.Mrs.PotatoHead(left)isconsideredtobeneutral,withoutsexualcharacters.(CourtesyFlickr)