Tuesday, 16 January 2018

Scientists Have Found A Link Between Diabetes And Cancer

Scientists Have Found A Link Between Diabetes And Cancer.
People with kidney 2 diabetes might be at fairly higher risk of developing liver cancer, according to a large, long-term studio Dec 2013. The research suggests that those with type 2 diabetes have about two to three times greater endanger of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) - the most regular type of liver cancer - compared to those without diabetes. Still, the peril of developing liver cancer remains low mobile. Race and ethnicity might also play a role in increasing the dissimilarity of liver cancer, the researchers said.

An estimated 26 percent of liver cancer cases in Latino look participants and 20 percent of cases in Hawaiians were attributed to diabetes. Among blacks and Japanese-Americans, the researchers estimated 13 percent and 12 percent of cases, respectively, were attributed to diabetes. Among whites, the count was 6 percent vimax extender where to buy in sheffield. "In general, if you're a order 2 diabetic, you're at greater danger of liver cancer," said heroine author V Wendy Setiawan, an assistant professor at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

Yet the solid risk of liver cancer - even for those with type 2 diabetes - is still extraordinarily low, said Dr David Bernstein, key of hepatology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY Although liver cancer is more rare, it has been on the make the grade worldwide and often is associated with viral hepatitis infections and liver diseases, such as cirrhosis. New cases of HCC in the United States have tripled in the former times 30 years, with Latinos and blacks experiencing the largest increase.

During that time, personification 2 diabetes also has become increasingly common. What might the association be? It's possible that the increased risk of liver cancer could be associated with the medications proletariat with diabetes take to control their blood sugar, said Dr James D'Olimpio, an oncologist at Monter Cancer Center in Lake Success, NY "Some medications are known to prevent general suppression of cancer. "Some of the drugs already have US Food and Drug Administration-ordered unscrupulous box warnings for bladder cancer," D'Olimpio said.

And "It's not a enlarge to think there might be other relationships between diabetes drugs and pancreatic or liver cancer. Diabetes is already associated with a maximum risk of developing pancreatic cancer". People with type 2 diabetes often develop a modify called "fatty liver," D'Olimpio said. In these cases, the liver has trouble handling the copiousness of fat in its cells and gradually becomes inflamed.

Overweight Often Leads To An Increase In Cholesterol And Diabetes

Overweight Often Leads To An Increase In Cholesterol And Diabetes.
Advances in medical knowledge have made it easier than ever to disgrace dangerous cholesterol levels. A distinction of cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins have proven particularly effective, reducing the jeopardy for heart-related death by as much as 40 percent in people who have already suffered a heart attack, said Dr Vincent Bufalino, president and primary executive of Midwest Heart Specialists and a spokesman for the American Heart Association pregnancy. "People have said we desideratum them in the drinking water because they are just so effective in lowering cholesterol".

But he and other doctors apprise that when it comes to controlling cholesterol and enjoying overall health, nothing beats lifestyle changes, such as a heart-friendly assembly and regular exercise. "Once we became a fast-food generation, it's just too moderate to order it at the first window, pick it up at the second window and eat it on the way to soccer vigra tablets vesi aunty ni denganu telugu kadhalu. We have need of to get you to change now or you're going to end up as one of these statistics".

Folks with high cholesterol often are overweight, and if they deal with their cholesterol through medication only, they holiday themselves open to such other chronic health problems as diabetes, high blood weight and arthritis, said Alice Lichtenstein, director and senior scientist at the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. The observation of controlling cholesterol solely through medication is "an woebegone spike of view".

And "There are a lot of other factors, especially when it comes to body weight, that the medications won't help. The notion that 'I'll just take medications' isn't a very healthy option, especially for the long term". That significance of view seems to be bolstered by new evidence that using cholesterol-lowering drugs won't not help a person who hopes to avoid heart disease.

British researchers who pooled and re-analyzed information from 11 cardiovascular studies found that taking statins did not reduce cardiac deaths among people who had not developed quintessence disease. The finding has been questioned, however, by some medical experts, who note that the research did allot an overall reduction in cholesterol levels linked to statin use. "I have to tell you that belies a lot of the other science," Bufalino said of the study.

High cholesterol is strongly connected to cardiovascular disease, which is the cardinal cause of annihilation in the United States, according to the American Heart Association. Nearly 2300 Americans die of cardiovascular malady each day - an average of one death every 38 seconds.

Cholesterol, which is a waxy substance, occurs plainly in the human body. In fact, the body produces about 75 percent of the cholesterol needed to conduct important tasks, which include building cell walls, creating hormones, processing vitamin D and producing bile acids that reduce fats, according to the US National Institutes of Health.

Sunday, 14 January 2018

The Experimental Drug Against Lung Cancer Prolongs Patients' Lives

The Experimental Drug Against Lung Cancer Prolongs Patients' Lives.
Researchers publish they prolonged survival for some patients with advanced non-small cubicle lung cancer, for whom the median survival is currently only about six months. One investigate discovered that an experimental treatment called crizotinib shrank tumors in the majority of lung cancer patients with a specific gene variant bestvito.top. An estimated 5 percent of lung cancer patients, or pitilessly 40000 citizenry worldwide, have this gene variant.

A second study found that a double-chemotherapy regimen benefited grey patients, who represent the majority of those with lung cancer worldwide. Roughly 100000 patients with lung cancer in the United States are over the grow old of 70. "This is our toughest cancer in many ways," said Dr Mark Kris, arbiter of a Saturday press conference at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), in Chicago. "It affects 220000 Americans each year, and over a million the crowd worldwide implant. Sadly, it is our nation's - and our world's - matchless cancer".

The key study, a phase 1 trial, found that 87 percent of 82 patients with advanced non-small chamber lung cancer with a specific mutation of the ALK gene, which makes that gene blend with another, responded robustly to treatment with crizotinib, which is made by Pfizer Inc. "The patients were treated for an unexceptional of six months, and more than 90 percent saw their tumors shrivel in size and 72 percent of participants remained progression-free six months after treatment," said con author Dr Yung-Jue Bang, a professor in the department of internal medicine at Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea. Ordinarily, only about 10 percent of patients would be expected to react to treatment.

About half of patients au fait nausea, vomiting and diarrhea but these pretentiousness effects eased over time. The fusion gene was first discovered to play a task in this type of lung cancer in 2007. Researchers are now working on a phase 3 trial of the drug. The Korean researchers reported economic ties to Pfizer.

Saturday, 13 January 2018

Experts Call For Reducing The Amount Of Salt In The Diet Of Americans

Experts Call For Reducing The Amount Of Salt In The Diet Of Americans.
The US Food and Drug Administration should think steps to shame the number of salt in the American diet over the next decade, an expert panel advised Tuesday matrix elite tnt weight management tablets ingredients. In a make public from the Institute of Medicine, an independent agency created by Congress to into or and advise the federal government on public health issues, the panel recommended that the FDA slowly but sure cut back the levels of salt that manufacturers typically add to foods.

So "Reducing American's undue sodium consumption requires establishing new federal standards for the amount of table salt that food manufacturers, restaurants and food service companies can add to their products," a news unshackle from the National Academy of Sciences stated phenibut ipad. The plan is for the FDA to "gradually step down the apogee amount of salt that can be added to foods, beverages and meals through a series of incremental reductions," the asseveration said.

But "The goal is not to ban salt, but rather to bring the amount of sodium in the average American's subsistence below levels associated with the risk of hypertension high blood pressure, heart plague and stroke, and to do so in a gradual way that will assure that food remains flavorful to the consumer".

FDA insiders have said that the medium will indeed heed the panel's recommendations, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The Salt Institute, an assiduity group, reacted to the news with shock. "Public pressure and politics have trumped science," said Morton Satin, industrial director of the institute. "There is evidence on both sides of the issue, as much against population-wide liveliness reduction as for it. People who are equally well-known in hypertension are arguing on both sides of the issue".

But Dr Jane E Henney, chairwoman of the board that wrote the news and a professor of medicine at the University of Cincinnati, said in a statement that "for 40 years we have known about the relation between sodium and the development of hypertension and other life-threatening diseases, but we have had virtually no success in cutting back the punch in our diets". According to the new report, 32 percent of American adults now have hypertension, which in 2009 get over $73 billion to manage and treat.

And the American Medical Association asserts that halving the mass of salt in foods could save 150,000 lives in the United States each year. "There is distinctly a direct link between sodium intake and health outcome, said Mary K Muth, boss of food and agricultural research at RTI International, a no-for-profit research organization, and a fellow of the committee that wrote the report.

Friday, 12 January 2018

Most NFL Players Have A Poor Vocabulary

Most NFL Players Have A Poor Vocabulary.
In a Lilliputian learning of former NFL players, about one quarter were found to have "mild cognitive impairment," or problems with ratiocinative and memory, a rate slightly higher than expected in the general population. Thirty-four ex-NFL players took put in the study that looked at their mental function, depression symptoms and brain images and compared them with those of men who did not tomfoolery professional or college football neosizeplus.top. The most common deficits seen were difficulties decree words and poor verbal memory.

Twenty players had no symptoms of impairment. One such punter was Daryl Johnston, who played 11 seasons as fullback for the Dallas Cowboys. During his adept career as an offensive blocker, Johnston took countless hits to the head vigrxplus.gold. After he retired in 2000, he wanted to be proactive about his wisdom health, he told university staff.

All but two of the ex-players had competent at least one concussion, and the average number of concussions was four. The players were between 41 and 79 years old. The memorize was published online Jan 7, 2013 in the JAMA Neurology. The latest study provides clues into the brain changes that could guidance to these deficits among NFL athletes, and why they show up so many years after the head injury, said study novelist Dr John Hart Jr, medical science director of the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Hart and his colleagues did advanced MRI-based imaging on 26 of the retired NFL players along with 26 of the other participants, and found that ci-devant players had more deface to their brain's white matter. White complication lies on the inside of the brain and connects different gray matter regions. "The bill can occur from head injuries because the brain is shaken or twisted, and that stretches the white matter".

An whiz on sports concussion is familiar with the findings. "The most important finding is that the researchers were able to find the correlation between ivory matter changes and cognitive deficits," said Kevin Guskiewicz, founding skipper of the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alleria Closely Associated To The Use Of Products From Fast Foods

Alleria Closely Associated To The Use Of Products From Fast Foods.
Kids who feed-bag post-haste food three or more times a week are suitable to have more severe allergic reactions, a large new international study suggests. These embrace bouts of asthma, eczema and hay fever (rhinitis). And although the study doesn't result that those burgers, chicken snacks and fries cause these problems, the evidence of an association is compelling, researchers say sex power tablet kitni bar use kare din me. "The on adds to a growing body of evidence of the possible harms of fast foods," said deliberate over co-author Hywel Williams, a professor of dermato-epidemiology at the University of Nottingham, in England.

So "Whether the prove we have found is strong enough to recommend a reduction of fast food intake for those with allergies is a matter of debate". These discovery are important because this is the largest study to date on allergies in young people across the humankind and the findings are remarkably consistent globally for both boys and girls and regardless of family income pro extender deluxe shop. "If true, the findings have big civil health implications given that these allergic disorders appear to be on the increase and because close food is so popular".

However, Williams cautioned that fast food might not be causing these problems. "It could be due to other factors linked to behavior that we have not measured, or it could be due to biases that come off in studies that measure disease and ask about former food intake". In addition, this association between fast foods and severe allergies does not axiomatically mean that eating less fast food will reduce the severity of disease of asthma, hay fever or eczema (an itchy peel disorder).

The report was published in the Jan 14, 2013 online originate of Thorax. Williams and colleagues collected data on more than 319000 teens elderly 13 and 14 from 51 countries and more than 181000 kids aged 6 and 7 from 31 countries. All of the children were section of a single study on child asthma and allergies.

Kids and their parents were asked about whether they suffered from asthma or runny or blocked nose along with itchy and thin eyes and eczema. Participants also described in spell out what they ate during the week. Fast food was linked to those conditions in both older and younger children.

Sunday, 7 January 2018

Raccoon Bite Can Kill Three More People

Raccoon Bite Can Kill Three More People.
Rabies caused the end of an structure transplant recipient in Maryland, and three other patients who received organs from the same provider are getting anti-rabies shots, government health officials announced Friday. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the action and Maryland health officials have confirmed that the patient who died in beforehand March contracted rabies from the donated organ comprar hgh. The transplant was done more than a year ago.

The duration of time the patient took to develop rabies symptoms was much longer than the typical rabies incubation stretch of one to three months, but is consistent with previous reports of long incubation periods, officials said in a statement. Both the member donor and the recipient had a raccoon-type rabies virus, according to the CDC's antecedent analysis of tissue samples natural-breast-success com. This type of rabies infects not only raccoons, but also other odd and domestic animals.

In the United States, only one other person is reported to have died from raccoon-type rabies virus. In 2011, the tool donor became ill, was admitted to a hospital in Florida and then died. The donor's organs, including the kidneys, centre and liver, were transplanted into recipients in Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Maryland.

Saturday, 6 January 2018

The Main Cause Of Accidents In The USA Is Drowsy Drivers

The Main Cause Of Accidents In The USA Is Drowsy Drivers.
Driving weary is a vital factor in traffic accidents and deaths in the United States, federal constitution officials reported Thursday. Federal statistics state that 2,5 percent of catastrophic motor vehicle crashes and 2 percent of crashes with non-fatal injuries subsume drowsy driving. But, data gathering methods make it difficult to calculation the actual number of accidents that involve drowsy drivers our site. In fact, some studies have estimated that between 15 percent and 33 percent of mischievous crashes may involve sleepy drivers.

And deaths and injuries are more credible in motor vehicle crashes that involve drowsy driving, the report stated. According to the gunshot by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 4 percent of drivers quizzed said they had driven while nodding in the month before the survey. "One out of 25 people reported falling asleep while driving in the previous month," said CDC epidemiologist Anne Wheaton, the report's priority author vigrx delay spray in qatar pharmacy. "If you think of how many cars you see every day, one out of 25 - that's a mignon big number".

And those numbers may underestimate the scope of the problem. "These were people who realized they had fallen asleep while they were driving. If you taking asleep for even a moment you may not realize it - so that's not even taking those kinsmen into account".

Vaccination Rate Of US Adults Are Not Sufficient

Vaccination Rate Of US Adults Are Not Sufficient.
Although there have been insignificant increases in some grown-up vaccination rates, US health officials reported Wednesday that those rates are still not what they should be. "We needed vaccinations as infants and toddlers, but we also requisite vaccinations as adults," Dr Susan J Rehm, medical official of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, said during an afternoon report conference Wednesday. Rehm noted that vaccination rates middle children are very good. "Because of that, we see only a fraction of the vaccine-preventable diseases we saw in the past, and a fraction of the deaths and sufferings from these diseases increase. But our advances will be skipped if we do not maintain our immunity as adults".

Speaking at the same account conference, Dr Melinda Wharton, deputy director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced some uncharted details on adult immunization rates. The rate of coverage for the pneumococcal vaccine, which is recommend for adults over the adulthood of 65 to prevent pneumonia, has remained at 65 percent since 2008 weightloss.herbalhat.com. However, the amount of vaccination among blacks and Hispanics is far below this.

The rate of adults being vaccinated with the newer vaccines is increasing. The Possibly offensive manlike papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was first recommended in 2007 for pubescent women to prevent cervical cancer. By 2009, 17 percent of women venerable 19 to 26 had received at least one shot - three are required. "This is up 6,2 percent, compared with 2008".

Another unique vaccine is the herpes zoster vaccine, which prevents shingles and is recommended for adults age-old 60 and over. Coverage with this vaccine is up a little from 2008, from 8 percent to 10 percent. One grave adult vaccine is the hepatitis B vaccine, which can ban liver cancer. Coverage of this vaccine is now 41,8 percent among high-risk groups, up 6 percent from 2008.

A wrapper in point for getting vaccinated is the ongoing pertussis outbreak in California. There is a children's vaccine for pertussis that also includes a booster for tetanus and diphtheria called Dtap. The matured rendering is called TDap.

Scientists Continue To Explore The Possibilities Of The Human Brain

Scientists Continue To Explore The Possibilities Of The Human Brain.
Electrical stimulation of a explicit zone of the brain may help boost a person's adeptness to get through tough times, according to a tiny new study. Researchers implanted electrodes in the brains of two bourgeoisie with epilepsy to learn about the source of their seizures. The electrodes were situated in the part of the thought known as the "anterior midcingulate cortex" duramale medication. This region is believed to be involved in emotions, dolour and decision-making.

When an electrical charge was delivered within this region, both patients said they experienced the expectation of an threatening challenge. Not only that, they also felt a determination to conquer the challenge proextender. At the same time, their compassion rate increased and they experienced physical sensations in the chest and neck.

Friday, 29 December 2017

A Used Breast Pump Can Carry Infectious Diseases

A Used Breast Pump Can Carry Infectious Diseases.
Women who are breast-feeding should weather precautions when deciding what kind of breast pump to use, particularly if they are light of buying or renting a used or second-hand pump, according to a new report, which was released Jan 15, 2013 from the US Food and Drug Administration. Although knocker pumps can range from single, guide pumps to double, electric-powered models, all have a few basic parts, including a breast shelter that fits over the nipple, a pump that creates a vacuum to express the milk and a detachable container for collecting the milk, Kathryn Daws-Kopp, an FDA electrical engineer, said in the report store that sell vigaplus. The FDA oversees the aegis and effectiveness of these devices.

Although women can buy off breast pumps, many hospitals, medical give stores and lactation consultants rent breast pumps that can be used by multiple women. The FDA advised all women who use rented or hand-me-down pumps to buy an accessory tackle with new breast shields and tubing - even if the existing kit looks clean problems solutions. Potentially contagious particles may linger in a breast pump or its accessories for a long time after a woman finishes using it.

These germs can infect the newborn or the next woman who uses that pump, said Dr Michael Cummings, an obstetrician and gynecologist with the FDA. The report, published on the Consumer Updates point of the FDA's website, offers the following tips to assure that a breast pump is clean. Rinse each assistant that comes into contact with breast milk in cool water immediately after pumping.

Wash each accessory alone using liquid dishwashing soap and warm water, and rinse each piece in hot water for 10 to 15 seconds. Allow each associate to air-dry completely on a clean towel or drying rack. The FDA respected that women who rent breast pumps should request that all parts of their send be cleaned, disinfected and sterilized according to the manufacturer's directions.

Monday, 25 December 2017

Breast Cancer Treatment Tablets For Osteoporosis

Breast Cancer Treatment Tablets For Osteoporosis.
The bone treat zoledronic acid (Zometa), considered a potentially optimistic weapon against breast cancer recurrence, has flopped in a different study involving more than 3360 patients. The drug, long used to encounter bone loss from osteoporosis, did not appear to prevent breast cancer from returning or to boost disease-free survival overall penis fantasi. British researchers presented the sorry findings Thursday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in Texas.

And "As a whole, the sanctum is negative," study author Dr Robert Coleman, a professor of medical oncology at the University of Sheffield in England, said during a Thursday communication congress on the findings natural breast shop. "There is no overall difference in recurrence rates or survival rates between patients who got the bone treatment and those who did not, except in older patients, defined as more than five years after menopause".

That was a possible ingenious spot in the results. "In that population, there is a benefit". The older women had a 27 percent advance in recurrence and a 29 percent improvement in overall survival over the five-year follow-up, compared to those who didn't get the drug.

And "There was tremendous count that this drug approach would be a major leap forward. There have been other trials that suggest this is the case". In one c whilom study, the use of the drug was linked with a 32 percent betterment in survival and lowered recurrence in younger women with breast cancer. Other research has found that nutritious women on bone drugs were less prone to develop breast cancer, so experts were hoping the drugs had an anti-tumor effect.

Zometa, marketed by Novartis AG, is one of a elegance of drugs used to treat osteoporosis and also to abate pain when cancers have spread to the bone - in part, by slowing bone erosion caused by the disease. It is given intravenously, while other bisphosphonates such as Actonel, Fosamax or Boniva can be charmed orally.

Sunday, 24 December 2017

Treating Irregular Heartbeat By Laser Destruction Misfiring Cells

Treating Irregular Heartbeat By Laser Destruction Misfiring Cells.
A changed propose to to treating irregular heartbeats appears to have demonstrated success in halting unnatural electrical pulses in both patients and pigs, new research indicates hot pinoy men scandal. In essence, the green intervention - known as "visually guided laser-balloon catheter" - enables doctors to much more accurately end the so-called "misfiring cells" that emit the irregular electrical impulses that can cause an divagatory heartbeat.

In fact, with this new approach, the study team found that physicians could destroy such cells with 100 percent accuracy vigrx shop. This is due to the procedure's use of a spare medical device called an endoscope, which when inserted into the aim region provides a continuous real-time image of the culprit cells.

The traditional means for getting at misfiring cells relies on pre-intervention X-rays for a much less unequivocal snapshot form of visual guidance. The findings are reported by memorize author Dr Vivek Y Reddy, a senior ability member in medicine and cardiology at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues in the May 26 online printing of Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology.

Saturday, 23 December 2017

Flame Retardants In Our Homes Are A Threat To Human Health

Flame Retardants In Our Homes Are A Threat To Human Health.
Flame retardants occupied in a considerable range of consumer products display a threat to human health and may not even be all that effective, according to a statement signed by nearly 150 scientists from 22 countries. Brominated and chlorinated beau retardants (BFRs and CFRs) are used in products such as televisions, computers, chamber phones, upholstered furniture, mattresses, carpet pads, textiles, airplanes and cars natural breast shop. These chemicals are accumulating in the milieu and in humans, and some of them may harm unborn children, affect people's hormones, and may even fun a role in causing cancer, according to the San Antonio Statement, named for the Texas metropolis that hosted the 30th International Symposium of Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) hold out month.

The statement said that "BFRs and CFRs can increase fire toxicity and their overall promote in improving fire safety has not been proven" weight. It also states that these fire retardants "can enlargement the release of carbon monoxide, toxic gases and soot, which are the cause of most fire deaths and injuries".

Monday, 18 December 2017

The Use Of Petroleum Jelly Can Lead To Bacterial Infection

The Use Of Petroleum Jelly Can Lead To Bacterial Infection.
Women who use petroleum jelly vaginally may put themselves at gamble of a worn out infection called bacterial vaginosis, a nugatory study suggests. Prior studies have linked douching to ill effects, including bacterial vaginosis, and an increased hazard of sexually transmitted diseases and pelvic fomenting disease results. But little research has been conducted on the possible effects of other products some women use vaginally, said Joelle Brown, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who led the redesigned study.

She and her colleagues found that of 141 Los Angeles women they studied, half said they'd Euphemistic pre-owned some exemplar of over-the-counter product vaginally in the past month, including sexual lubricants, petroleum jelly and toddler oil. Almost as many, 45 percent, reported douching ingredients and women. When the researchers tested the women for infections, they found that those who'd occupied petroleum jelly in the one-time month were more than twice as likely as non-users to have bacterial vaginosis.

Bacterial vaginosis occurs when the normal consider between "good" and "bad" bacteria in the vagina is disrupted. The symptoms include discharge, pain, itching or intense - but most women have no symptoms, and the infection usually causes no long-term problems. Still, bacterial vaginosis can judge women more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

It also from time to time leads to pelvic inflammatory disease, which can cause infertility. The new findings, reported in the April delivery of Obstetrics & Gynecology, do not prove that petroleum jelly presently increased women's risk of bacterial vaginosis. But it's possible, said Dr Sten Vermund, leader of the Institute for Global Health at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn.

Petroleum jelly might advance the growth of bad bacteria because of its "alkaline properties," explained Vermund, who was not complex in the study. "An acidic vaginal environment is what protects women from colonization from anomalous organisms". He noted that many studies have now linked douching to an increased risk of vaginal infections. And that may be because the usage "disrupts the natural vaginal ecology".