Express News Service
Greying? Blame it on stem cellsWondering why your hair is turning grey? Blame it on stem cells called melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) getting stuck and unable to deliver the protein pigment that is responsible for hair colour. Melanocyte stem cells are stem cells which are found alongside hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) in the hair follicle bulge. These coordinate with HFSCs to regenerate pigmented hair follicles. NYU researchers found that normal hair growth is accompanied by the McSCs constantly moving between compartments of the hair follicles, where they are exposed to different levels of maturity-influencing protein signals.
Recycling phosphorus-rich lake sediments and channelizing themto agricultural purposes can positively impact crop production | Express
Organic-rich lake sediment for agri restores lakes Researchers from University of Helsinki Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry have found that recycling phosphorus-rich lake sediments and channelizing them to agricultural purposes can positively impact crop production. Ideal targets for this are lakes that are suffering from eutrophication — a process that causes surplus nutrients in a lake environment leading to harmful algal bloom, death of fish and ‘dead zones’. Therefore, recycling the phosphorus-rich sediments for agriculture also can help restore a dying lake suffering from eutrophication. The researchers zeroed in on a lake in Estonia for their experiment. In the lake sediments, they identified various essential nutrients including phosphorus. The targeted lake was used for sediment-based growing media to sustain grass biomass yield in a field environment, which yielded very good results due to the organic-rich matter in the sediments.
Longer weekends, anyone? it’s good for health Some companies across the world are trying out four-day work weeks. Now, researchers from University of South Australia have found a three-day weekend yielded healthier activities among the participants on whom an experiment was tried out for the effects of a long weekend. The researchers, over a 13-month-long experiment, found that the participants’ movement patterns changed for the better when on long weekends, with increased physical activity and decreased sedentary behaviour and stress levels observed across the board. The study used data from Annual rhythms in Adults’ lifestyle and health (ARIA) wherein 308 adults (with an average age of 40.4 years) wore fitness trackers 24 hours a day for 13 months. Minute-by-minute movement behaviour data were aggregated into daily totals to compare movement behaviours pre-holiday, during the holiday and post-holiday to arrive at the conclusion of longer weekends are more beneficial for health. The researchers say that as the world adapts to a new normal, perhaps it is time to embrace a longer weekend to boost physical and mental health.
Greying? Blame it on stem cells
Wondering why your hair is turning grey? Blame it on stem cells called melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) getting stuck and unable to deliver the protein pigment that is responsible for hair colour. Melanocyte stem cells are stem cells which are found alongside hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) in the hair follicle bulge. These coordinate with HFSCs to regenerate pigmented hair follicles. NYU researchers found that normal hair growth is accompanied by the McSCs constantly moving between compartments of the hair follicles, where they are exposed to different levels of maturity-influencing protein signals.
Recycling phosphorus-rich lake sediments and channelizing them
to agricultural purposes can positively impact crop production | Express
Organic-rich lake sediment for agri restores lakes
Researchers from University of Helsinki Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry have found that recycling phosphorus-rich lake sediments and channelizing them to agricultural purposes can positively impact crop production. Ideal targets for this are lakes that are suffering from eutrophication — a process that causes surplus nutrients in a lake environment leading to harmful algal bloom, death of fish and ‘dead zones’. Therefore, recycling the phosphorus-rich sediments for agriculture also can help restore a dying lake suffering from eutrophication. The researchers zeroed in on a lake in Estonia for their experiment. In the lake sediments, they identified various essential nutrients including phosphorus. The targeted lake was used for sediment-based growing media to sustain grass biomass yield in a field environment, which yielded very good results due to the organic-rich matter in the sediments.
Longer weekends, anyone? it’s good for health
Some companies across the world are trying out four-day work weeks. Now, researchers from University of South Australia have found a three-day weekend yielded healthier activities among the participants on whom an experiment was tried out for the effects of a long weekend. The researchers, over a 13-month-long experiment, found that the participants’ movement patterns changed for the better when on long weekends, with increased physical activity and decreased sedentary behaviour and stress levels observed across the board. The study used data from Annual rhythms in Adults’ lifestyle and health (ARIA) wherein 308 adults (with an average age of 40.4 years) wore fitness trackers 24 hours a day for 13 months. Minute-by-minute movement behaviour data were aggregated into daily totals to compare movement behaviours pre-holiday, during the holiday and post-holiday to arrive at the conclusion of longer weekends are more beneficial for health. The researchers say that as the world adapts to a new normal, perhaps it is time to embrace a longer weekend to boost physical and mental health.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
