In 2009, there were an estimated 225 million cases of malaria worldwide, and 781,000 deaths caused by the disease, according to the World Health Organization’s 2010 Malaria Report – the most recent data available. Even though these statistics represent a drop in the numbers of malaria cases and deaths from previous years, health experts worry about the emergence and spread of strains of malaria that are resistant to artemisinin – the most effective antimalarial to date – could reverse these gains if new agents are not discovered soon.

Julia Kubanek, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, was leading a team of researchers interested in how marine plants and animals protect themselves from infection, when they came across the seaweed Callophycus serratus, which lives on tropical coral reefs in waters off Fiji. The red algae produced a class of compounds known as bromophycolides, which protected it from the growth of Lindra thalassiae, a common marine fungus. Biomedical screening revealed bromophycolides had antimalarial properties.

Science Now describes the mechanism Kubanek’s group believes bromophycolides are using to kill off the malaria parasite: “Malarial parasites infect red blood cells and they thrive on hemoglobin, the body’s oxygen-carrying molecules,” but as they break hemoglobin down, “they release heme, a pigment that is toxic to them.”  As Kubanek reported on Monday, early studies suggest bromophycolide interferes with the parasite’s natural response to heme, resulting in the poisoning of the parasite. It’s a strategy similar to that taken by the drug chloroquine – an early generation antimalarial that Falciparum has developed a resistant to in parts of the world where malaria is endemic.

“We are still working on this area, but so far we know that bromophycolides are toxic to Plasmodium falciparum, including at least one chloroquine-resistant strain, at sub-micromolar concentrations,” Kubanek said, according to Guardian. “That is not whopping potency – artemisinin is more effective. But it is promising as a lead molecule and we hope to eventually design a more potent and selective derivative.” The researchers now plan to test the effectiveness of the compound in mice infected with malaria.

The World Health Organization has been increasingly focused on the issue of antimicrobial resistance worldwide. In January, the agency launched a global initiative to stop the spread of artemisinin-resistant malaria by increasing surveillance, improving access to diagnostics and greater investment in artemisinin-related research. In April, the WHO plans to introduce several policy measures to fight the spread of antimicrobial resistance worldwide.

Previous studies show that exercise can lead to new cell growth in regions of the brain, boosting function, but whether similar growth takes place in the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in memory that tends to decline in old age, remained unclear.

To help answer this question, researchers put 120 sedentary adults in their 60s to work – half of the group took to the track where they walked for 40 minutes, three days a week, while the others participated in a lower intensity stretching regimen. Both groups participated in the program for one year.

Although hippocampal regions of two groups were similar at the beginning of the exercise program, MRI scans revealed that after one year the hippocami of walkers grew by about 2 percent whereas seniors exposed only to stretching activities experienced a shrinkage in this same region of about 1.4 percent over the same period.

Additional analysis revealed that the greater the fitness progress made by the adults over the course of the trial, the greater the growth in the hippocampus. Blood tests also confirmed that the walkers had higher levels of the protein BDNF, known to be involved in the growth of new brain cells, corresponded with the changes in hippocampal volume.

“We think of the atrophy of the hippocampus in later life as almost inevitable,” with an estimated 1 to 2 percent lost annually, Kirk Erickson, professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and lead author of the study said in a university press release. “But we’ve shown that even moderate exercise for one year can increase the size of that structure. The brain at that stage remains modifiable.”

The participants were also given a spatial memory test before, during and after the exercise period. Both groups became faster at responding to the test and more accurate between the first and last testing sessions for aerobic exercise and stretching. However, researchers did find that participants who had larger hippocampi at the start and completion of the program had better performances in the memory tests, leading them to believe that growth in the hippocampus resulting from exercise “should translate into improved memory function.”

“The results of our study are particularly interesting in that they suggest that even modest amounts of exercise by sedentary older adults can lead to substantial improvements in memory and brain health,” Art Kramer, director of the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois and the senior author said, according to the press release. “Such improvements have important implications for the health of our citizens and the expanding population of older adults worldwide.”

The science tests, known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in 2009 assessed close to 308,000 fourth- and eighth and over 11,000 twelfth graders questions on the physical, life and Earth sciences.

For fourth graders, questions varied in level of difficulty from identifying the benefit of adaptation for an organism to designing an experiment that would allow them to compare types of bird food. Questions geared toward students in grade twelve ranged from being able to compare weather data to tell which city has warmer temperatures to whether they could recognize a nuclear fission reaction.

Just thirty-four percent of fourth-graders, 30 percent of eighth-graders, and 21 percent of twelfth-graders reached the “proficient level” in science in 2009, according to the assessment. Twenty-eight percent of fourth-graders, 37 percent of eighth-graders and 47 percent of twelfth-graders failed to meet the basic achievement level for the exam, compared to a mere one to two percent of students at all grade levels demonstrated advanced understanding of science.

Because the test was changed from earlier versions in 2009, it’s hard to say how, if at all, American students’ science comprehension has changed since the last NAEP was performed in 2005. However, one thing is clear from the 2009 snapshot, said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a statement following the release of the findings: “[O]ur nation’s students aren’t learning at a rate that will maintain America’s role as an international leader in science. When only 1 or 2 percent of children score at the advanced levels on the NAEP, the next generation will not be ready to be world-class inventors, doctors, and engineers.”

The need for schools to accelerate learning in the sciences isn’t an issue the president is blind to, as he noted in Tuesday’s address, where he called for a greater emphasis on training the next generation of educators to help close the gap between American and foreign student performance in science and math.

“We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones,” Obama said during the State of the Union. “And over the next 10 years, with so many baby boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science and technology and engineering and math,” or STEM fields.

But just how the President plans to achieve the goal to train 10,000 teachers in the STEM fields and whether it will work remains open to debate. ScienceInsider notes that the White House released a factsheet after the State of the Union that addressed the President’s intention to request an investment of $100 million to prepare STEM teachers as part of the budget. According to the White House document, $80 million would go towards beefing up teacher preparation for the classrooms to help train 10,000 more effective STEM teachers annually. The other $20 million would be invested in research to determine the best way to recruit, prepare and retain STEM teachers.

However, as blog points out, it’s unclear from the document “whether the $100 million is actually an increase over current levels or merely are refocusing of what’s now being spent by both agencies on such activities” – a point that won’t be clear until the president releases his budget proposal for fiscal year 2012. “It’s a crucial distinction at a time when House of Representatives Republicans are trying to roll back civilian discretionary spending – the 15% of the federal budget that includes all investments in research, education, and training, along with myriad other programs.”

We won’t have to wait too long to find out what kind of money is behind the president’s push to invest in STEM teachers and the future of science education in the U.S. On Friday, a White House official told Reuters that the president will release his budget proposal for FY 2012 Feb. 14.

Though there was once hope for a $750 million increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health in 2011, for the time-being spending for the NIH is frozen at 2010 levels through March 4, thanks to a continuing resolution passed by the Congress in late December.

While some are keeping fingers crossed that the NIH budget in 2011 will stay at 2010 levels, there’s growing fear that even that may be a stretch, since the Republicans say they’ll stick to their guns on their promise to slash non-defense discretionary spending to levels seen in 2008.

Then there’s Representative Ralph Hall (R-Texas), the House Committee on Science and Technology’s new chairman, and the issue of what the passage of the America COMPETES Act of 2010 will and won’t mean for science funding in the years to come.

Hall raised a bit of a stink when the House went to vote on the America COMPETES Act of 2010, which reauthorizes spending for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Foundation. It also endorses a 10-year doubling of these institutes over the next decade and spells out how the NSF is to train the next generation of scientists. The bill passed the House on Dec. 21 and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

A team of reporters over at Nature News writes that Hall’s big beef with the reauthorization of America COMPETES had to do with the fact “he would rather scrutinize and vote on each science programme funded by the bill than give agencies … a wholesale increase.”

Even as President Barack Obama ran through a list of other achievements made during the lame duck session ahead of the holiday, ScienceInsider’s Eli Kintisch writes he was notably quiet about the passage of the bill. “That omission may signal trouble, as passage of the act doesn’t guarantee its funding,” writes Brandon Keim of Wired Science. “In January and February, Congress will decide how much money will actually be spent on it,” he writes.

Science’s Jeffery Mervis writes about how unlike the first COMPETES Act, which was backed by President George W. Bush and Democratic leaders alike in 2007, the reauthorization of the COMPETES Act “quickly became partisan, with Democrats calling it he best way to ensure long-term economic prosperity and Republicans complaining its cost would stifle job creation rather than encourage it.”

Republican’s haven’t exactly been quiet about their skepticism over the funding of some NSF projects. Last month, targeted the federal dollars going to NSF in the inaugural YouCut Citizen Review which asked Americans to weigh in on NSF grants they judged to be “wasteful or … don’t think are a good use of taxpayer dollars.”

“Full funding of the COMPETES Act is among the most important things that Congress can do to ensure America’s continued leadership in the decades ahead, “John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote of the reauthorization of the COMPETES Act on the White House blog.

“As the Chairman of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, I look forward to working with my Committee to provide effective oversight, eliminate wasteful spending, and help ensure America’s leadership in innovation,” Hall wrote in a statement marking the convening of the 112^th Congress. “Advancements in science and technology will create jobs, keep the U.S. at the forefront of innovation, drive economic growth and give Americans a greater standard of living.”

“How will it be possible to invest more in research when many are calling for cutbacks?,” Nature News asked outgoing Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.). “It’s going to be a challenge. We’re seeing a little increase in the public-sector research dollars and we’re seeing a decrease in private-sector funding. In the rest of the world many are trying to do both: their private and public sectors are investing more. We’re going to have to rally the private sector, the universities and everyone who cares about this to show its importance.”

One more thing, Gordon noted, when asked about tips for his successor: “Try to maintain the civility that allowed us to work together [in the past]. I tried to bring the Republicans in early to make them a part of the process. It made our bills better, and because of that we were able to go to the floor with a unified effort and pass legislation in a bipartisan manner — and if you want legislation to continue here, it needs to be bipartisan.”

Welcome to 2011! A lot of things have happened since we last posted here. One of your resolutions for 2011 is to post more often, and consistently on The PI. Unlike most of our resolutions, this one has survived New Year’s Day.

Researchers from the University of Calgary reported the discovery of Hesperonychus, the smallest meat-eating dino known to roam North America, in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences Monday (3.16.09).

Based upon the fossil remnants of the mini-meat-eater, scientists believe the average housecat would have towered over the mini-raptor, who was only 20 inches high and weighed just under 5 pounds. But, with razor sharp claws and teeth (similar to its big cousin) Hesperonychus would have been a threat for small prehistoric creatures, including baby dinosaurs, small birds, mammals and lizards, according to University of Calgary paleontologist Nick Longrich.

Based upon populations of modern carnivores, researchers have long believed for all the evidence of large carnivorous dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus rex and Albertosaurus, there ought to be some evidence of small carnivorous dinosaurs.

“Small carnivorous dinosaurs seemed to be completely absent from the environment, which seemed bizarre because today the small carnivores outnumber the big ones,” Longrich said in a news release. “It turns out that they were here and they played a more important role in the ecosystem than we realized. So for the past 100 years, we’ve completely overlooked a major part of North America’s dinosaur community.”

Hesperonychus waited a long time for his modern debut. The fossilized remains of the mini-dinosaur sat in storage for more than 25 years after being pulled from several locations including Dinosaur Provincial Park, just northeast of Calgary, in the early 1980s.

In 2007, Longrich resurrected the fossilized specimen from the University of Alberta’s collection and began analyzing the fossils with University of Alberta paleontologist Philip Currie. The pair was particularly drawn to the well-preserved claws and pelvis bone of the prehistoric creature.

“The claws were thought to come from juveniles- they were just so small. But when we studied the pelvis, we found the hip bones were fused, which would only have happened once the animal was fully grown”, Longrich said. “Until now, the smallest carnivorous dinosaurs we have seen in North America have been about the size of a wolf. Judging by the amount of material that was collected, we believe animals the size of Hesperonychus must have been quite common on the landscape.”

Not only is Hesperonychus the tiniest meat-eater on record, but the youngest. The carnivorous dinosaur from China that was previously the smallest on record roamed the Earth 120 million years ago. Hesperonychus, on the other hand, is believed to be 75 million years old.

“It’s discovery just emphasizes how little we actually know, and it raises the possibility that there are even smaller ones out there waiting to be found,” Longrich said.

Related links:

Continent’s smallest meat-eating dinosaur discovered! (The Takeaway, 3.17.09)

Dino Mites: A Diminutive Dinosaur in North America and a Rare Mass Death of Young Relatives in China (SciAm.com, 3.16.09)

Tiny terror of prehistoric world discovered by Alberta paleontologists (The Vancouver Sun, 3.16.09)

And, with good reason. The restoration of science in the United States now falls on the shoulders of the ones who know the field best. In an editorial published Friday (3.13.09) in the journal Science, Christopher Reddy, the director of the Coastal Ocean Institute at Woods Hole Oceanic Institute, argues that never before has scientific outreach and communication been more important to shaping science policy.

“Now, more than ever, issues such as climate change, obesity, stem cell research, green technology, and evolution are migrating from the scientific journals to the nonscience community, from school halls to the halls of Congress,” Reddy writes. “It’s critical that scientists venture beyond their laboratories to put these issues into the correct contexts and help the public what is known, unknown and under debate.”

Because scientists no longer serve as the only source of scientific information, thanks in part to blogs and wikis, Reddy says scientists need to fight to ensure their voices reach the public. Yet, as he points out, you don’t have to look far for signs that the the field overlooks the importance of public outreach.

“Just last month, an editorial in Analytical Chemistry commented that federal funding agency requirements for outreach detract from young scientists’ ability to conduct research and think deeply,” he writes.

The main problem with motivating researchers to engage in public service traces back to the academic tenure system, Reddy explains. Though the system “claims to evaluate research, teaching, and service… in practice, service is rarely expected of rewarded,” he writes. For scientists to change their attitude toward public outreach, Reddy argues that universities need to take the service component of tenure evaluations more seriously. Rather than looking at the outreach as a nuisance, scientists can use the opportunity to inspire the next generation of scientists, encourage minority groups in science and establish collaborations between industry and academia.

Although there is work to do in order to change how the scientific community values public outreach, Reddy points to signs that some universities are doing their part.  Woods Hole, Stanford University and Stockholm University all offer communications classes on how to talk science with nonscientists as part of science graduate programs. The Aldo Leopold Leadership Program at Stanford University also offers media training programs for mid-career environmental scientists.

“If we believe that science has a rightful role in our society, then it is the duty of the scientific community to enlighten the public as to why and how,” Reddy writes. “That doesn’t mean scientists need to become celebrities, politicians, or lobbyists – just citizens,” he writes.

Related links:

A move toward bias-free science (The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3.15.09)

Obama’s ‘Science’ Fiction (The Washington Post, 3.13.09)

Stem-cell order tests science-politics relationship (CNET, 3.10.09)

Mathias Osvath, of Lund University in Sweden, collected the reports by senior zookeepers at Sweden’s Furuvik Zoo who spent the past decade tracking the behavior of a male chimpanzee named Santino, who regularly threw stones at zoo visitors.

According to Osvath’s study, Santino began to collect and throw stones at zoo visitors shortly after becoming the only male in the zoo’s chimp colony. Shortly thereafter, unbeknownst to Santino, a zookeeper began spying on him in the morning hours before the zoo opened for business.

“In order for a behavior to signal planning for a future state, the predominate mental state during the planning must deviate from the one experienced in the situation that is planned for,” Osvath wrote.

While in hiding, a zookeeper watched as Santino collected stones and pieces of concrete from his outdoor cage, strategically placing in piles facing visitor observation decks. During this time, he did not appear agitated nor did he throw stones, the zookeeper said.

Hours later, however, when zoo patrons arrived, he would launch the ammunition of stones and concrete in the direction of visitors — in an effort to show the zoo patrons who was boss.

In total, the zookeepers said Santino collected stones on 50 separate occasions and shaped stones into easy-to-throw discs on 18 occasions over the years. Conversely, none of the female chimps housed with Santino have displayed similar behaviors.

“Planning, involving toolmaking, reveals a cognitive complexity not apparent in laboratory experiments,” Osvath wrote. “This type of planning with tool making indicates a flexibility associated with mental pre-experience of an upcoming event.”

Previous studies have shown that wild chimps collect and shape sticks to be used for hunting, scientists have been unable to discern whether such behavior meets a immediate or future need.

Despite being unable to fully observe the chimp’s behavior from collection through stone-throwing because of the possible ethical and legal ramifications, Osvath argued that the data show premeditation on the part of chimpanzees. “These observations convincingly show that our fellow apes do consider the future in a very complex way,” he said in a news release. “It implies that they have a highly developed consciousness, including life-like mental simulations of potential events. They most probably have an ‘inner world’ like we have when reviewing past episodes of our lives or thinking of days to come.”

“I think that wild chimpanzees might be even better at planning as they probably rely on it for their daily survival,” Osvath said. “The environment in a zoo is far less complex than in a forest. Zoo chimps never have to encounter the dangers in the forest or live through periods of scarce food. Planning would prove its value in ‘real life’ much more than in a zoo.”

Related links:

Zoo chimp plots stone throwing attacks (MSNBC, 3.09.09)

Study: Belligerent chimp proves animals make plans (AP, 3.09.09)

Missile-throwing chimp plots attacks on tourists (New Scientist, 3.09.09)

The findings, published in the February online issue of the journal Academic Emergency Medicine, are the latest to shine a light on the inequities in U.S. hospitals and point to a possible root of health disparities.

“What’s most concerning is the longer people stay in the [Emergency Department], the more like they are to die,” lead author Jesse Pines, of the University of Pennsylvania, said in a news release.

The researchers sifted through roughly 14,500 hospital admissions from the emergency departments at 408 U.S. hospitals between 2003 and 2005, to analyze the time patients spent in the emergency department before being transferred to a intensive care unit (ICU) bed or a non-ICU bed. The analyzed data set was from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, an annual assessment of the nation’s Emergency Departments. The data set represented estimates apply to approximately 339.4 million Emergency Department visits, according to the authors of the study.

The results revealed that wait times for black patients clock in at nearly six and one-quarter hours while non-black patients were in beds at just under 5 hours. Among the nation’s sickest patients waiting for ICU beds, fifty-seven percent of blacks waited more than 6 hours for an ICU bed in compared to 37 percent of non-blacks.

“Some of the greatest medical advancements of the last decade can be totally erased by spending a couple hours longer than necessary in the [Emergency Department],” study coauthor Judd Hollander, also of the University of Pennsylvania, said in a news release.

“Even prior to the economic downturn, some institutions had actually begun prioritizing hospital beds for insured patients having lucrative elective procedures. These measures will only worsen disparities for minorities,” he added.

Related links:

White House health forum must eliminate health disparities says USVI Delegate (Caribbean Net News, 3.6.09)

Ex-Foes of Health-Care Reform Emerge as Supporters (The Washington Post, 3.6.09)

Report finds racial disparities in access to hospital care (The Seattle Medium, 3.4.09)