A unique new study led by researchers at University of Limerick in Ireland has found that bacteria that may lead to hospital acquired infection is present in a hospital's wastewater system.
Sep 13, 2023
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Obesity, a major risk factor for various lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and hypertension has become widespread worldwide. A multi-institutional research group led by Associate Professor Akiko Kojima of the Graduate School ...
Aug 4, 2023
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As with COVID, public health agencies around the world have struggled to predict which communities will be hit the hardest with malaria, a life-threatening disease that infected an estimated 247 million people in 2021. A ...
Feb 22, 2023
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Again and again, studies have shown that exposure to nature can improve human mental health and well-being. A new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology dug a little deeper, looking at what kind of nature experiences were ...
Feb 13, 2023
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In the study, which appeared on September 27 in Nature Communications, scientists analyzed decades of environmental data associated with Lassa virus outbreaks, revealing temperature, rainfall and the presence of pastureland ...
Sep 27, 2022
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Neuroscientists have been trying to understand how animals and humans process sensory information for several decades now. While their work has led to many important discoveries, many questions remain unanswered.
Dietary fiber is generally thought to benefit intestinal health. Its impact on the composition and metabolic function of the gut microbiome, however, varies greatly across individuals.
May 23, 2022
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Have you heard about the food additive E415? It is also known as xanthan gum. Most likely, you eat it several times a week. Xanthan gum is used in everyday foods such as baked goods, ice cream and salad dressings. The additive ...
Apr 5, 2022
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It's summer, a time to hike, garden, vacation—and to be on the lookout for ticks.
Aug 19, 2021
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Centenarians are less susceptible to age-related chronic diseases and more likely to survive infectious diseases. Now, a new study reveals that people who live to be 100 or older have a unique microbiome that may protect ...
Jul 30, 2021
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Ecology (from Greek: οἶκος, "house"; -λογία, "study of") is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount (biomass), number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems. Ecosystems are hierarchical systems that are organized into a graded series of regularly interacting and semi-independent parts (e.g., species) that aggregate into higher orders of complex integrated wholes (e.g., communities). Ecosystems are sustained by the biodiversity within them. Biodiversity is the full-scale of life and its processes, including genes, species and ecosystems forming lineages that integrate into a complex and regenerative spatial arrangement of types, forms, and interactions. Ecosystems create biophysical feedback mechanisms between living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) components of the planet. These feedback loops regulate and sustain local communities, continental climate systems, and global biogeochemical cycles.
Ecology is a sub-discipline of biology, the study of life. The word "ecology" ("Ökologie") was coined in 1866 by the German scientist Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919). Ancient philosophers of Greece, including Hippocrates and Aristotle, were among the earliest to record notes and observations on the natural history of plants and animals. Modern ecology branched out of natural history and matured into a more rigorous science in the late 19th century. Charles Darwin's evolutionary treatise including the concept of adaptation, as it was introduced in 1859, is a pivotal cornerstone in modern ecological theory. Ecology is not synonymous with environment, environmentalism, natural history or environmental science. It is closely related to physiology, evolutionary biology, genetics and ethology. An understanding of how biodiversity affects ecological function is an important focus area in ecological studies. Ecologists seek to explain:
Ecology is a human science as well. There are many practical applications of ecology in conservation biology, wetland management, natural resource management (agriculture, forestry, fisheries), city planning (urban ecology), community health, economics, basic and applied science and human social interaction (human ecology). Ecosystems sustain every life-supporting function on the planet, including climate regulation, water filtration, soil formation (pedogenesis), food, fibers, medicines, erosion control, and many other natural features of scientific, historical or spiritual value.
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