Knowledge Update

​Canberra, April 11 (IANS) The number of tigers in the wild has risen for the first time in 100 years, marking a major turning point in the big cat's plight against poaching and habitat loss.

Figures collated from national surveys conducted in tiger range states and from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), estimate the number of tigers living in the wild to be around 3,890.

That is up almost 700 animals from the 2010 figure, which estimated their numbers at 3,200, ABC reported.

Current tiger estimates across Asia are: 2,226 tigers in India, 433 in Russian Siberia, 371 in Indonesia, 250 in Malaysia, 198 in Nepal, 189 in Thailand, 106 in Bangladesh, 103 in Bhutan, more than seven in China, less than five in Vietnam, two tigers in Laos, and none in Cambodia. Data on tigers in Myanmar was not available.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia's national manager for the species, Darren Grover welcomed the news, saying it was the first increase since the turn of the 20th century.

"That's great news. It's the first positive trend for wild tiger populations in more than 100 years," he said.

In 1900, approximately 100,000 tigers were estimated to be living in the wild.

"In those 100 years or so, we've lost around 97 percent of wild tigers," Grover said.

A WWF background document said the increase was likely the result of major changes made in India, Russia, Nepal and Bhutan, including improved survey techniques and ramped up conservation efforts.

But despite the increase, Grover said there was still a long way to go before tiger range states reached their goal of doubling the number in the wild by 2022.

In 2011, about 14 countries from across the tiger range, which extends from India across South Asia and to Far East Russia, got together in St. Petersburg in Russia and agreed to the Tx2 target.

"They took 3,200 as the number at that time, so that would mean they are aiming for a wild tiger population of around 6,400 by 2022," Grover said.

"We're on the way towards that target. We're obviously making progress, but there is still quite some way to go."

Grover said some countries, such as Malaysia, China and Thailand, were holding back efforts by failing to conduct habitat surveys.

"There is some information available on how many tigers remain in those countries, but until we do those accurate surveys, we won't know for sure," he said.

"The good thing is, most of those countries have committed to doing those surveys over the next year or so, so that will enlighten us to a more accurate figure and hopefully show that that overall number is increasing further."

He said in the meantime, tourists needed to be aware of the overseas practices threatening tigers in the wild.

"While loss of habitat has been a major reason for the decline in tiger numbers, the illegal poaching of tiger and the use of products in traditional medicines is also a major factor behind the decline in tiger populations," he said.

"We really urge people who are going to these countries, if you're in markets and you are seeing what are claimed to be tiger products, don't purchase them."

"As we like to say, there's only one place where those tiger products should be, and that's in a tiger."​

London, April 11 (IANS) In a first, researchers have shown that ribose - a sugar that is one of the building blocks of genetic material in living organisms - may have formed in ice on comets.

The genetic material of all living organisms on Earth, as well as of viruses, is made up of nucleic acids, DNA and RNA. 

Scientists have long wondered about the origin of these biological compounds. 

Some believe that the Earth was seeded by comets or asteroids that contained the basic building blocks needed to form such molecules. 

Ribose, the other key component of RNA, had never yet been detected in extraterrestrial material or created in the laboratory under “astrophysical” conditions. 

Now, by simulating the evolution of the interstellar ice making up comets in the lab, French research teams have successfully obtained ribose - a key step in understanding the origin of RNA and of life.

To obtain this result, scientists at the Institut de Chimie de Nice, University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, in France carried out a highly detailed analysis of an artificial comet.

The astrophysicists simulated the formation of dust grains coated with ice, the raw material of comets. 

They then proposed the first realistic scenario for the formation of this key compound which had never been detected in meteorites or cometary ices until now. 

Although the existence of ribose in real comets remains to be confirmed, this discovery completes the list of the molecular building blocks of life that can be formed in interstellar ice. 

“It also lends further support to the theory that comets are the source of the organic molecules that made life possible on Earth, and perhaps elsewhere in the universe,” the authors noted in a paper published in the journal Science.​

​London, April 12 (IANS) e-cigarette smoking is increasingly promoted as a safer alternative to cigarette smoking but a team of researchers has found that e-cigarettes have immediate effects on pulmonary function in mild asthmatic young smokers.

The findings showed that e-cigarette smoking caused acute pulmonary function impairment, lasting for less than 30 minutes after smoking.

"The results show that as it happens with cigarette smoking, e-cigarette smoking has more deleterious short-term effects on asthmatics compared with healthy smokers," said Andreas Lappas from the Hellenic Cancer Society in Athens, Greece. 

In a study, published in the journal CHEST, of 54 young cigarette and e-cigarettes smokers aged 18-31, 27 had mild controlled asthma and the other 27 were healthy. 

The results suggest that measurements of airway obstruction and inflammation were worse after e-cigarette sessions and these findings were more severe in asthmatics.

"It adds to the growing body of research pointing to the dangers of e-cigarettes. Especially for asthma, further research is needed in order to assess the risks of long-term e-cigarette use," Lappas added.

The study is set to be presented at the "CHEST World Congress 2016" in Shanghai, China, on April 15-17. ​

New York, April 12 (IANS) A team of scientists has discovered six new proteins that may help reveal secrets of how humans age -- potentially unlocking new insights into diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, cancer and other ageing-related problems.

The researchers found that these tiny proteins are produced naturally in the energy-generating mitochondria -- the powerhouse in human cells -- and play key roles in metabolism and cell survival.

"The findings are an important advance that will be ripe for rapid translation into drug development for diseases of ageing," said lead researcher Pinchas Cohen from University of Southern California in the US.

The amount of each protein decreases with age, leading to onset of diseases linked to older age.

To learn further, the team used computer analysis and uncovered the genes for six new proteins which were dubbed small humanin-like peptides (SHIP).

"The newly recognised SHLP family expands the understanding of the mitochondria as an intracellular signalling organelle that communicates with the rest of the body to regulate metabolism and cell fate," Cohen explained.

After identifying the six new proteins and successfully developing antibodies to test for several of them, the researchers examined both mouse tissues and human cells to determine their abundance in different organs as well as their functions. 

The proteins were distributed quite differently among organs, suggesting that the proteins have varying functions based on where they are in the body.

The results revealed that these tiny proteins plays several big roles in our bodies' cells, from decreasing the amount of damaging free radicals and controlling the rate at which cells die to boosting metabolism and helping tissues throughout the body respond better to insulin. ​

Toronto, April 12 (IANS) An incidence of brain injury in a child can have adverse effects on the quality of relationships shared between the parent and the child, finds a study.

The findings revealed that concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is particularly high in the preschool years -- up to around 2 percent of children aged 0 to 5 years per year. 

"The young brain is particularly vulnerable to injury because the skull is still thin and malleable. In the months following the injury, one of the first visible signs of social difficulties in young children is a decline in their relationship with their parents," said one of the researchers, Miriam Beauchamp, professor at University of Montreal in Canada.

Given the relatively limited social and cognitive skills of preschoolers, a concussion at this age can slow the development of new abilities, for example, certain communication skills. 

“It may be due to specific neurological mechanisms, to changes in parenting, or to stress caused by the injury," said lead author Gabrielle Lalonde, doctoral student at University of Montreal.

The study published in the Journal of Neuropsycholog, aims to assess the quality of parent-child interactions six months post-injury. 

The team recruited a group of 130 children aged between 18 months and 60 months and divided them into three categories: children with concussion, children with orthopedic injury (usually a fracture or sprain of the arm or leg) but no concussion, and a control group of non-injured children. 

The results revealed that the quality of parent-child interactions of injured children following concussion was significantly reduced compared to non-injured children.

Parents should monitor behaviour changes in their child in the weeks that follow the trauma and adjust accordingly during this period.

"If, as parents, you notice the effects of the accident on your own psychological state, or behavioural changes in your child that make them interact differently and that persist more than a few weeks, you should talk to your family doctor or a neuropsychologist," Beauchamp suggested.

​New York, April 12 (IANS) Children's exposure to higher levels of air pollution, including fine particulate matter also known as PM2.5, and impure carbon particles can most negatively impact their lung functioning, finds a new study.

The findings showed that by the time a child reaches the age of eight, his or her lungs are greatly affected by inhaling the PM2.5 that includes aerosols, smoke, fumes, dust, ash and pollen as well as black carbon. 

Also, children living the closest to major highways had the greatest reductions in their lung function.

The lung functioning of children living within 100 meters of a major roadway was on average 6 percent lower than that of children living 400 meters or more away, said the lead author Mary B. Rice, instructor at Harvard Medical School in US.

For the study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care, the team studied 614 children born between 1999 and 2002.

They calculated the distance from the child's home to the nearest major highway, and estimated first year of life, lifetime and prior-year exposure to PM2.5, using satellite measurements​

London, April 13 (IANS) A team of British researchers has found that people with type 2 diabetes are at a greater risk of serious liver disease than those without the condition.

“We have shown for the first time that type 2 diabetes is an important novel risk factor that increases numbers of hospital admissions and deaths, in people with all common chronic liver diseases," said Chris Byrne, a professor at the University of Southampton. 

"Further research is now needed to determine whether all patients with type 2 diabetes should be screened for common chronic liver diseases,” he added.



The team, involving researchers from the universities of Southampton and Edinburgh, examined cases of liver diseases among people with diabetes from anonymised, securely linked hospital records and death records in Scotland over a 10-year period.

They found that most cases of liver disease in people with type 2 diabetes are not alcohol-related but caused by a build-up of fat within liver cells - a condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), according to a the study published recently in the Journal of Hepatology.

NAFLD is commonly linked to obesity, which is also a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

Most people can avoid getting these conditions by following a healthy diet and taking regular exercise.

“Preventing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by avoiding unhealthy lifestyles in both people with and without diabetes is important because it is difficult to treat the complications of this condition,” said Sarah Wild from the University of Edinburgh.

The research team found that men with type 2 diabetes are three times more likely to suffer from NAFLD than men without diabetes.

There are fewer cases of type 2 diabetes and liver disease amongst women but having type 2 diabetes increases the risk of NAFLD by five times, the study found.

People with NAFLD are more susceptible to the effects of alcohol on the liver and should avoid drinking to avoid further complications, the researchers said.​

​New York, April 13 (IANS) Sending a message out to the world about bridging the gender pay gap, social networking site Facebook and technology giant Microsoft have disclosed that they pay male and female employees equally.

The disclosure - that came on the "Equal Pay Day" on Tuesday - was announced after both the companies were pressed by Arjuna Capital, a Boston-based investment firm.

Arjuna Capital had filed shareholder proposals at each of the companies, asking these to close the gender wage gap and release salary information, Wall Street Journal reported.

Facebook and Microsoft are among nine technology firms like Amazon and Apple that have faced pressure from Arjuna Capital to share wage information.

"If tech companies want to attract and retain the best talent and are going to move women into leadership roles that will make the companies more competitive, they need to pay men and women the same, and they need to be transparent about how they are doing that," Natasha Lamb, a partner at Arjuna Capital, was quoted as saying.

Facebook and Microsoft have said they have been reviewing data about how much their employees are paid for a number of years.

Observing "Equal Pay Day," a study by San Francisco-based career marketplace startup Hired Inc. revealed that the gap in salaries between male and female software engineers at major corporations is 7 percent.

The data in this report was pulled from an analysis of more than 100,000 job offers across 15,000 candidates and 3,000 companies on Hired's platform.

"In fact, our data a" which spans technology, sales and marketing roles a" shows that 69 percent of the time, men receive higher salary offers than women for the same job title at the same company," said Dr Jessica Kirkpatrick, Hired's lead product data scientist.

One of the most noteworthy findings in the report relates to what's known as the "expectation gap."

Overall, Hired's data shows that the average woman on its platform sets her expected salary at $14,000 less per year than the average man on its platform.

"When we break the expectation gap down by role -- comparing women and men in the same job category -- we found as the ratio of men to women in the role increases, so does the gap," Kirkpatrick noted.

Hired Inc hopes the findings will address this issue in two ways.

"First, by providing insight into the issue of gender bias in the workforce, we want to encourage companies to investigate their compensation policies to ensure that they don't perpetuate patterns of inequality," the report said.

"Second, we want to arm women with information about this phenomenon to empower them to ask for their market worth. This issue certainly won't be solved overnight, but with both sides working together, we'll all be on a path to a more equitable future," it added.​

Moscow, April 6 (IANS) A new study by an international team of scientists has revealed conditions under which a body produces more superoxide -- a dangerous form of oxygen with the capability to destruct DNA.

Human mutations in a gene encoding the DHTKD1 protein result in a range of neurological disturbances. On molecular level, the mutations cause accumulation of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and degradation products of lysine and tryptophan, said the study published recently in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 

The structure of the DHTKD1 protein is similar to an enzyme, 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase, which is able to produce superoxide. 

According to the researcher, a cell combats the "poisonous" forms of oxygen with a help of antioxidants, and antioxidant defence system proteins.

But disturbed metabolism may cause a shortage of amino acids (the bricks for building proteins) lysine and tryptophan which may result into physical, neurologic and mental malfunctions, and even lead to death. 

Those amino acids belong to irreplaceable and cannot be produced from other substances in human body, so they should come from food, the researchers noted.

According to the study, 2-aminoadipate and 2-oxoadipate are the degradation products of lysine, tryptophan and hydroxylysine.

Scientists found the connection between aciduria (increased acidity of urine, showing serious malfunction in metabolism) in patients with increased content of 2-aminoadipate and 2-oxoadipate and gene mutations in the DHTKD1 protein. 

That confirmed an earlier hypothesis that an enzyme, encoded by DHTKD1, oxidises 2-oxoadipate.

The DHTKD1 protein does not belong to central metabolism and is produced in higher quantities in liver and kidney cells where lysine and tryptophan are more actively degraded. In humans it is degraded in skeletal muscles. 

The study found that both the down- and up-regulation of the DHTKD1 expression increased the level of reactive and dangerous forms of oxygen.​

​New York, April 6 (IANS) Chronic lack of sleep and irregular sleep-wake cycles that disturb the biological cycle are likely to risk the onset of Parkinson's disease as well as worsen the disease, warns a new study.

The animals-based study showed that the disturbances in the circadian rhythm -- the roughly 24-hour biological cycle of humans daily exposure to long periods of light with brief exposure to dark may also dramatically worsen the motor and learning deficits brought on by the disease.

"Many think that sleep disturbances are secondary to Parkinson's disease. But circadian rhythm disturbances are increasingly reported before the onset of Parkinson's, suggesting that they could be risk factors," said Domenico Pratico, professor at LKSOM in the US.

Further, the researchers observed significant reductions in neurons in substantia nigra -- a brain region that produce dopamine, the loss of which is a major molecular feature of Parkinson's disease. 

"Cells normally die in that region of the brain, but our study shows that circadian rhythm disturbance accelerates cell death there," Pratico added.

In addition, cells known as microglia, which normally protect neurons, were superactive in circadian-disrupted MPTP-treated mice. 

The overactivation of microglia can actually worsen neuroinflammation and potentially speed the progression of Parkinson's disease.

The findings are detailed online in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

The team investigated the role of altered circadian rhythm using a well-established mouse model of Parkinson's disease, in which treatment with MPTP, a neurotoxin that reproduces aspects of the disease in mice. 

Assessments of movement and behaviour showed that all mice treated with MPTP developed Parkinson's disease, but animals with altered circadian rhythm experienced significant learning impairments. 

They also exhibited severe motor deficits, with drastic reductions in motor coordination and motor learning skills - far worse than the deficits observed in MPTP-treated mice with normal circadian rhythm.​