Body

Mediterranean landscapes have undergone great change in recent decades, but species have adapted to this, at least in the case of roe deer, Spanish ibex, red deer and wild boar. This has been shown by Spanish researchers who have analysed the effects of changes in land use on the past, present and future distribution of these species.

"In the last few decades there has been an increase in the area of distribution of wild ungulates", explains Pelayo Acevedo, lead author of the study and researcher in the Department of Animal Biology at the University of Málaga, speaking to SINC.

Eating raw or undercooked mollusks may pose a safety hazard if they are harvested from waters polluted with pathogenic microbes, so U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are studying ways to enhance the food safety of these popular shellfish.

For example, USDA molecular biologist David H. Kingsley at Delaware State University in Dover is exploring new techniques that will decontaminate mollusks while protecting the seafood's flavor, texture, and color.

Consumers will choose and eat more indulgent food after they see someone who is overweight—unless they consciously think about their health goals, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Dieters are so involved with trying to eat virtuously that they are more likely than non-dieters to choose unhealthy foods that are labeled as healthy, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. It seems dieter focus on food names can work to their disadvantage.

Happy people are more likely to eat candy bars, whereas hopeful people choose fruit, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. That's because when people feel hope, they're thinking about the future.

"Most of us are aware that we often fall victim to emotional eating, but how is it that we might choose unhealthy or healthy snacks when we're feeling good?" write authors Karen Page Winterich (Pennsylvania State University) and Kelly L. Haws (Texas A&M University).

When your team wins a close one, you may be in danger driving home after the game, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. The study shows that traffic fatalities rise near the hometowns of winning teams on game days.

Someone is more likely to predict the quality of a product by its price if someone else is buying it, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. But when consumers buy products themselves, they are more likely to judge quality by a product's attributes.

A large group of distinguished scientists published a very detailed and rather complex paper describing the association between alcohol consumption and cancer in the BMJ. It is based on data from the EPIC study in Europe, with a mean follow up of 8.8 years for more than 300,000 subjects. The authors describe an increase in risk of many cancers from alcohol intake, but do not give data permitting the detection of a threshold of intake for an adverse effect on cancer risk.

Neiker-Tecnalia (the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development) is working on the development of new biotechnological tools to produce in vitro selected trees of the Pinus genus. Scientists at this technological centre have developed various techniques for propagation of Pinus radiata, Pinus pinea, Pinus pinaster and Pinus sylvestris by using tissue culture.

A little information can go a long way when it comes to understanding rodent-borne infectious disease, as shown by a new study led by scientist John Orrock of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and colleagues.

The researchers studied wild deer mouse populations on the Channel Islands off the southern coast of California. The mice carry a variant of hantavirus--a disease spread by rodents--called Sin Nombre virus.

Results of the study appear in the May issue of the journal American Naturalist.

A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research explains why consumers often indicate they are willing to pay more for a product that is not yet available—but are reluctant to pay that price when the product is ultimately launched.

University of Adelaide researchers have shown for the first time how peppermint helps to relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which affects up to 20% of the population.

In a paper published this week in the international journal Pain, researchers from the University's Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory explain how peppermint activates an "anti-pain" channel in the colon, soothing inflammatory pain in the gastrointestinal tract.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study shows how inflammation can help cause cancer. Chronic inflammation due to infection or to conditions such as chronic inflammatory bowel disease is associated with up to 25 percent of all cancers.

This study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) found that inflammation stimulates a rise in levels of a molecule called microRNA-155 (miR-155).

Animals that reproduce asexually by somatic cloning have special mechanisms that delay ageing provide exceptionally good health. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg have shown how colony-forming ascidians (or sea squirts) can activate the enzyme telomerase, which protects DNA. This enzyme is more active also in humans who attain an advanced age.

Squamous cell cancers, which can occur in multiple organs in the body, can originate from hair follicle stem cells, a finding that could result in new strategies to treat and potentially prevent the disease, according to a study by researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA.