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Research reveals that large areas of 'degraded' forest in Southeast Asia can play an important role in conserving mammal diversity.

Mammals can be one of the hardest-hit groups by habitat loss, and a lot of research has been carried out to find the best ways to conserve mammal diversity.

Much of this research has focused on very large-scale changes in land use and the impacts this will have on overall mammal diversity. However, many important decisions about land use are made at much more local scales, for example at the level of individual landowners.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Babies that seem to get upset more easily and take longer to calm down may be at higher risk for obesity while babies that exhibit more "cuddliness" and calm down easily are less likely at risk, according to a University at Buffalo study.

The purpose of the research, published July 22 online ahead of print in Childhood Obesity, is to explore new ways to identify infants at risk for becoming overweight or obese in order to intervene as early as possible.

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 21, 2016 -- At the grocery store, most foods -- meats, breads, cheeses, snacks -- come wrapped in plastic packaging. Not only does this create a lot of non-recyclable, non-biodegradable waste, but thin plastic films are not great at preventing spoilage. And some plastics are suspected of leaching potentially harmful compounds into food. To address these issues, scientists are now developing a packaging film made of milk proteins -- and it is even edible.

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 21, 2016 -- Oranges and other citrus fruits are good for you -- they contain plenty of vitamins and substances, such as antioxidants, that can help keep you healthy. Now a group of researchers reports that these fruits also help prevent harmful effects of obesity in mice fed a Western-style, high-fat diet.

SEATTLE -- For older adults, having more or closer family members in one's social network decreases his or her likelihood of death, but having a larger or closer group of friends does not, finds a new study that will be presented at the 111th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

SEATTLE -- It appears that people who actively participate in demonstrations during social movements on behalf of those dissimilar to them do so for two important reasons.

First, they trust their outgroup peers. Secondly, the political climate in their home countries actually fosters both trust and political engagement, and this is particularly true in countries with well-functioning political institutions.

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have revealed for the first time the three-dimensional molecular 'map' of a protein that has been pinpointed as a driver of many types of cancers.

The unprecedented view of the protein doublecortin kinase like domain 1 (DCLK1) could provide clues to how it contributes to cancer formation and progression.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients taking medications that inhibit interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), a molecule that stimulates the immune system, are 300 times more likely to experience invasive Group A Streptococcal infections than patients not on the drug, according to University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers. Their study, published August 19 in Science Immunology, also uncovers a critical new role for IL-1beta as the body's independent early warning system for bacterial infections.

A scientific collaboration of researchers from the Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Smithsonian Institution has discovered previously unknown regularities of arthropod limbs based on studies of the remipede Speleonectes tulumensis, a rare crustacean found in saline waters of caves. The results of the research have been published in PeerJ, an open-access interdisciplinary journal.

JUPITER, FL - August 19, 2016 - A well-known family of natural compounds, called "terpenoids," have a curious evolutionary origin. In particular, one question relevant to future drug discovery has puzzled scientists: exactly how does Nature make these molecules?

A study from scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has now filled in a missing piece of the evolutionary puzzle, determining a previously unknown structure of a family of proteins that are key to making these compounds.

As one of the most successful intracellular pathogens, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) causes 8 million cases of tuberculosis and 1.3 million deaths worldwide annually. During the course of infection, Mtb is exposed to diverse redox stresses that trigger metabolic and physiological changes.

The majority of smokers who successfully switch to vaping say they have fewer respiratory infections, according to a study led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

The on-line survey of 941 respondents assessed subjective changes in respiratory symptoms in smokers who switched to vaping for at least two months. The results, published in the Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy, show that 66 per cent of respondents reported an improvement in respiratory symptoms, 29 per cent reported no change and 5 per cent reported worsening.

G proteins are molecular switches on the insides of cell membranes. They convey important signals to the inner workings of the cells. The associated receptors are targeted by all kinds of medications. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are now shedding light on precisely how the individual amino acids of the G protein move during the switching process. The discovered mechanism signposts new approaches to the design of new active agents.

Tonal languages sound rather strange to European ears: in contrast to German, French or English, their meaning is also determined by the pitch at which syllables or words are pronounced. A seemingly identical sound can mean completely different things - depending on whether it is pronounced with high pitch, low pitch or a specific pitch fluctuation.

Tonal languages in China and Africa

A Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii) growing in the highlands of northern Greece has been dendrocronologically dated to be more than 1075 years old. This makes it currently the oldest known living tree in Europe. The millenium old pine was discovered by scientists from Stockholm University (Sweden), the University of Mainz (Germany) and the University of Arizona (USA).