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What you all think about this? I think it brilliant. The cat can fulfill his desire to hunt and get some food.

3D-printed prosthetic costs way less than other alternatives

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Link between intestinal bacteria, depression found

Scientists from the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute at McMaster University have discovered that intestinal bacteria play an important role in inducing anxiety and depression.

The new study, published in Nature Communications, is the first to explore the role of intestinal microbiota in the altered behavior that is a consequence of early life stress.

“We have shown for the first time in an established mouse model of anxiety and depression that bacteria play a crucial role in inducing this abnormal behaviour,” said Premysl Bercik, senior author of the paper and an associate professor of medicine with McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. “But it’s not only bacteria, it’s the altered bi-directional communication between the stressed host – mice subjected to early life stress – and its microbiota, that leads to anxiety and depression.”

G. De Palma, P. Blennerhassett, J. Lu, Y. Deng, A. J. Park, W. Green, E. Denou, M. A. Silva, A. Santacruz, Y. Sanz, M. G. Surette, E. F. Verdu, S. M. Collins, P. Bercik. Microbiota and host determinants of behavioural phenotype in maternally separated mice. Nature Communications, 2015; 6: 7735 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8735

This study is the first to explore the role of intestinal microbiota in the altered behavior that is a consequence of early life stress. Credit: © Martinan / Fotolia

“Let me be frank with you” Frank says, down on one knee. In his hand he offers you an engagement ring. “I want to be Frank with you for the rest of our lives.”

Possible Good News For Bats

This spring, a possible cure for White-nose Syndrome was found by researchers at Georgia State University.

The disease is caused by a fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) that infects bats while they hibernate. The lowered metabolism of hibernation results in a compromised immune system that makes them susceptible to disease. They end up burning fat twice as fast as healthy bats as they try to fight off the infection. This leaves them without enough fat stores to make it through the winter, and they effectively “starve” to death.

Biologists discovered that the bacteria Rhodococcus rhodochrousin, common in soils across North America, produces volatile compounds when grown on cobalt that are able to stop the White-nose Syndrome fungus from growing. Some 150 bats have been cured during initial trials so far, and while it’s early days yet, this offers hope for the future of bats in North America. To date, White-nose Syndrome has caused the death of some 6 million bats of 11 species, including some listed as endangered.

Little Brown Bats (Myotis lucifugus, shown with the powdered white skin characteristic of the disease), once common, have suffered around 94% mortality in the eastern half of the country. The fungus is thought to have originated in Europe, where it has been found in bats there that are healthy and apparently immune. photo by Marvin Moriarty/USFWS

(via: Peterson Field Guides)