Nutrition Brazil  BRASIL 26/09/2014

Blowflies carry a high percentage of bacteria that cause diseases in humans

A study has found that 30% of the microorganisms found in these insects cause diseases such as bubonic plague, gastritis, ulcers and stomach cancer

Nearly 30% of the microorganisms found in blowflies are capable of causing diseases in humans says a study carried out by researchers at the University of Campinas (Unicamp), Pennsylvania State University in the United States and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Un ejemplar de Sarcophagidae, eliminando líquido, para aumentar la concentración de alimento sólido ingerido. FOTO: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos.
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Nutrition Panama  PANAMÁ 24/09/2014

The protective fungus inside

A group of 11 researchers, five of them from STRI, recently discovered how a single fungus living inside cacao plants radically alters processes from photosynthesis to the expression of disease resistance genes

The bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms living in and on human bodies — our microbiome — is getting a lot of attention as its importance to human health becomes better understood.

Un solo hongo que vive dentro de las plantas de cacao altera procesos radicalmente. FOTO: STRI.
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Social Sciences Chile  CHILE 23/09/2014

ALMA studies infant sun-like solar system to try and catch the wind

These winds could have important implications for planet formation

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have studied a special kind of young star, a T Tauri star, to understand why some have disks that glow weirdly in infrared light while others shine in a more predictable fashion. The answer, researchers speculate, may be due to differences in the wind around these stars.

Impresión artística de AS 205 N, una estrella T Tauri que es parte de un sistema multiestelar. | Crédito: AP. Marenfeld & NOAO/AURA/NSF
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Health Spain  MADRID 22/09/2014

Research on Photoacoustics to Detect Breast Cancer

It could become an alternative to mammography or sonogram

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Health Brazil  BRASIL 22/09/2014

Discovery paves the way for a new generation of chemotherapies

In an article published in the journal Chemistry & Biology, researchers describe a new mechanism that inhibits the activity of proteasomes, protein complexes that are a target for cancer therapy

A new mechanism to inhibit proteasomes, protein complexes that are a target for cancer therapy, is the topic of an article published in the journal Chemistry & Biology. The first author of the study is Brazilian Daniela Trivella, researcher at the Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (LNBio/CNPEM).

describen el mecanismo inédito de inhibición de la actividad del proteasoma, el complejo proteico al que se considera un blanco terapéutico contra el cáncer
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Social Sciences Chile  ATACAMA 19/09/2014

Violent origins of elliptical galaxies

New observations explain why Milky Way-like galaxies are so common in the Universe

For decades scientists have believed that galaxy mergers usually result in the formation of elliptical galaxies. Now, for the the first time, researchers using ALMA and a host of other radio telescopes have found direct evidence that merging galaxies can instead form pancake galaxies, and that this outcome is in fact quite common. This surprising result could explain why there are so many spiral galaxies like the Milky Way in the Universe.

Cada uno de los coloridos objetos de esta imagen ilustra una de las 30 fusiones de galaxias. Crédito: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/SMA/CARMA/IRAM/J. Ueda et al.
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Nutrition Panama  PANAMÁ 18/09/2014

Slow-moving shallows put the heat on Bocas Coral

Some coral species may adapt to higher temperatures. The study’s models predict that areas flushed by cooler water will have a higher chance at surviving well into the future

Snorkel-perfect coral reefs in the calm, mangrove-fringed waters of the Bocas Del Toro Archipelago are expected to be among the hardest hit by warmer temperatures that lead to coral bleaching and mortality, a new study finds. These shallows in Panama’s Caribbean are characterized by low water flow, allowing water to reach precariously high sea surface temperature (SST) when compared to areas with greater water movement.

Archipiélago de Bocas Del Toro. FOTO: STRI.
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Nutrition Colombia  BOGOTÁ D.C. 17/09/2014

Apitherapy against cancer

The expert says that observational studies performed globally show that people that work with bee cultures have less incidence of cancer

High vitamin concentration in bee byproducts improves blood flow and the immune system in cancer patients. A research project carried out by the UNal Medicine Faculty shows that apitherapy (therapeutic use of bee byproducts) helps as supplementary, not definitive, treatment for cancer.

La apiterapia consiste en utilizar productos derivados de las abejas con fines medicinales. FOTO: UN.
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Nutrition Guatemala  GUATEMALA 16/09/2014

Central America Protects whale sharks

The largest fishes in the world, whale sharks grow to 40 feet (12.65 m) and weigh up to 47,000 pounds (21.5 metric tons)

Representatives from Panama, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic signed a binding agreement protecting whale sharks in Eastern Pacific and Caribbean waters that took effect on July 1. This conservation plan was drafted based on research by Smithsonian staff scientist, Hector M. Guzman.

Tiburón ballena. FOTO: STRI.
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Nutrition Colombia  CALDAS 15/09/2014

Genetic diversity of mandarin orange discovered

This result serves to determine if there are material duplicates in the studied bank

A UNal-Palmira and Regional Autonomous Corporation of Caldas (CORPOICA, for its Spanish acronym) study determined that there is an important genetic variability of this species, enabling its maintenance and preservation. Despite being a very much consumed fruit around the world the precise genome contribution of its ancestral species is unknown. This has turned it into a research target for different research groups around the world which hope to molecularly classify citric fruits.

Mandarina Okitsu (FOTO: UNL)
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Social Sciences Chile  ATACAMA 12/09/2014

ALMA achieves new high frequency observing capabilities: shows planet uranus in new light

This achievement opens an entirely new window on the Universe for ALMA and goes beyond its existing capabilities with the Band 9 receivers

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has reached a major milestone by extending its vision fully into the realm of the submillimeter, the wavelengths of cosmic light that hold intriguing information about the cold, dark, and distant Universe.

Imagen de Urano obtenida con ALMA en alta frecuencia | ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
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Nutrition Brazil  BRASIL 11/09/2014

Amazônia has an "underground ocean"

Sedimentary basins of the Acre, Solimões, Amazon and Marajó rivers have water reserves estimated at over 160 trillion cubic meters

Amazônia has an underground water reservoir whose volume is projected to be more than 160 trillion cubic meters, according to estimates by Francisco de Assis Matos de Abreu, professor at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), presented during the 66th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC) held through July 27, 2014, on the campus of the Federal University of Acre (UFAC) in Rio Branco.

Amazonia.
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Technology Spain  MADRID 09/09/2014

A system that facilitates malware identification in smartphones

This system allows a large number of apps to be analyzed in order to determine the malware’s origins and family

Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) have developed a tool to help security analysts protect markets and users from malware. This system allows a large number of apps to be analyzed in order to determine the malware’s origins and family.

Seguridad en el móvil. Imagen: UC3M.
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Technology Spain  MADRID 05/09/2014

The Future of Ultrascale Computing Under Study

Ultrascale systems combine the advantages of distributed and parallel computing systems

Some two hundred scientists from more than 40 countries are researching what the next generation of ultrascale computing systems will be like. The study is being carried out under the auspices of NESUS, one of the largest European research networks of this type coordinated by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M).

Computación. Imagen: UC3M.
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Nutrition Panama  PANAMÁ 04/09/2014

From a fish’s point of view, the Caribbean Sea is really three different regions

New results from the Smithsonian published in the journal ‘PLOS ONE’

“Previously, the Greater Caribbean was considered to be one big homogenous region of the Tropical West Atlantic,” said Ross Roberson, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. “According to our shorefish surveys, the Caribbean should really be considered to be three distinct provinces.”

Robertson y la becaria posdoctoral del Smithsonian Katie Cramer. FOTO: STRI.
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Social Sciences Brazil  BRASIL 03/09/2014

Astronomers observe the inside of a star for the first time

Data obtained by the international team monitoring the phenomena on Eta Carinae, led by Augusto Damineli, professor at the IAG/USP, could validate or disprove existing theoretical models about the structure of large stars

Through a small telescope installed at the top of a mountain covered by banana trees between the southern Minas Gerais towns of Brazópolis and Piranguçu, a group of scientists has been monitoring a first-of-its-kind astronomic phenomenon whose peak is expected to occur within days: the opening of a hole in the surface of a giant star known as Eta Carinae, allowing discovery of the secrets inside.

Estrella CW Leonis.
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Nutrition Paraguay  PARAGUAY 02/09/2014

Deforestation of Amazônia is increasing pollution in South American countries

Study indicates that smoke from fires in Amazon states migrates to Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay, raising the atmospheric pollution levels of these countries

The Amazon states of Pará, Rondônia, Amazonas and Acre have "exported" the smoke produced by burning to clear land to Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay and have contributed to increasing the levels of atmospheric pollution in these neighboring countries. Along with Mato Grosso, these four states have also registered the highest number of wildfires in South America.

Imagen aérea del río Amazonas corriendo a través de la selva brasileña. (Foto: NASA)
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Science Chile  ATACAMA 01/09/2014

Methods of Sherlock Holmes to get the best view yet of merging galaxies in distant Universe

Astronomers are now combining the power of many telescopes on Earth and in space with a vastly larger form of cosmic lens to study a case of vigorous star formation in the early Universe

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), and many other telescopes on the ground and in space, an international team of astronomers has obtained the best view yet of a collision that took place between two galaxies when the Universe was only half its current age. They enlisted the help of a galaxy-sized magnifying glass to reveal otherwise invisible detail. These new studies of the galaxy H-ATLAS J142935.3-002836 have shown that this complex and distant object looks like the well-known local galaxy collision, the Antennae Galaxies.

Fusión de galaxias en el universo distante amplificada a través de una lente gravitacional. Crédito: ESO/NASA/ESA/W. M. Keck Observatory
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Social Sciences Panama  PANAMÁ 24/07/2014

STRI defends biological collections in ‘Science’

Is there a role for scientific specimen collecting in today’s biodiversity science?

Given the ubiquity of technology in contemporary biology, from whole genome sequencing to the ability to radio track migratory whales across their ocean migration, is there a role for scientific specimen collecting in today’s biodiversity science? Recently, such a challenge was put forth in the journal Science.

Colecta de muestras biológicas. FOTO: STRI.
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Environment Brazil  BRASIL 23/07/2014

Brazilian plants may help to mitigate impact of climate change

Studying the genomes of heat- and drought-tolerant species (such as the pequi) from the semi-arid and Cerrado regions may contribute to the genetic improvement of crops such as soya, maize, rice and beans

The seriguela (Spondias purpurea) and umbuzeiro (Spondias tuberosa), trees commonly found in Brazil’s northeastern semi-arid region, and the Brazilian chestnut, native to the Cerrado, are part of a group of plants that could play an important role in agriculture by mitigating the consequences of climate change. They are among several Brazilian species that have enhanced adaptive capacity and are heat and drought tolerant.

Caryocar brasiliense. FOTO: Conrado.
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