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The way cells in the gut fight off toxins produced by a hospital bug has been discovered by US researchers.

A course of antibiotics, which wipes out other bacteria in the gut, can allow C. difficile to multiply and run rampant in the bowels.

They produce large numbers of toxins which enter the cells lining the bowel. This damages the cells resulting in inflammation, cramps, fever, diarrhoea and blood-stained stools.

It is particularly a problem in hospitals as the bacteria can spread, and many patients could be taking antibiotics or have a weakened immune system.

In hospitals in England there were 10,414 C. difficile infections during the financial year 2010-11, down from 33,442 in 2007-08.

The whole toxin is unable to penetrate cells so it needs to cleave off a smaller chunk.

Scientists have identified the chemical GSNO – S-nitrosoglutathione – which is produced by the bowels in response to inflammation. It can bind to the toxin, preventing cleavage, so the toxin cannot enter cells.

One of the researchers Dr Jonathan Stamler, from the Case Western Reserve University, said: "Understanding how this mechanism deactivates toxins provides a basis for developing new therapies that can target toxins directly and thereby keep bacterial infections, like C. diff, from spreading."

In experiments on mice, the study showed giving the chemical orally increased survival. Researchers now want to begin clinical trials.

The report's lead author Prof Tor Savidge, from the University of Texas, believes the technique could be used on other infections.

"Along with its potential to provide a much-needed new approach to treating Clostridium difficile infection, the discovery could be applied to developing new treatments for other forms of diarrhoea, as well as non-diarrheal diseases caused by bacteria," he said.

Prof Nigel Minton, from the Clostridia Research Group at the University of Nottingham, said: "This is an exciting discovery.

"Anything that can add to our scant arsenal of available treatments for combating this devastating disease is an important step forward.

"Having said that, one imagines that an actual therapeutic based on this discovery is some way off, either from being developed, and more importantly, from entering the clinic."

Animals and plants are shifting their natural home ranges towards the cooler poles three times faster than scientists previously thought.

In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers looked at the effects of temperature on over 2,000 species.

They report in the journal Science that species experiencing the greatest warming have moved furthest.

The results helped to "cement" the link between climate change and shifts in species' global ranges, said the team.

Scientists have consistently told us that as the climate warms we should expect animals to head polewards in search of cooler temperatures.

Animals like the British comma butterfly, for example, has moved 220km northward from central England to southern Scotland in the last two decades.

There is also evidence that more species seem to be moving up mountains than down, explained conservation biologist Chris Thomas from the University of York, UK, who led the study.

But studies had stopped short of showing that rising temperatures are responsible for these shifts in range, he added.

Now he and his team have made this link.

Analysing the range shifts of more than 2,000 species – ranging from butterflies to birds, algae to mammals – across Europe, North and South America and Malaysia over the last four decades, they show that organisms that experience the greatest change in temperatures move the fastest.

The team found that on average organisms are shifting their home ranges at a rate of 17km per decade away from the equator; three times the speed previously thought.

Organisms also moved uphill by about 1m a year.

"Seeing that species are able to keep up with the warming is a very positive finding," said biologist Terry Root from Stanford University in California, US.

She added that it seemed that species were able to seek out cooler habitats as long as there was not an obstacle in their way, like a highway.

But what about the animals that already live at the poles, or at the top of mountains?

"They die," said Dr Thomas. Take the polar bear, it does most of its hunting off the ice, and that ice is melting – this July was the lowest ever recorded Arctic ice cover – it has nowhere to go.

However, the loss of this one bear species, although eminently emblematic, seems insignificant when compared to the number of species that are threatened at the top of tropical mountains.

On Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, Dr Thomas' graduate student, I-Ching Chen, has been following the movement of Geometrid moths uphill as temperatures increase. Their natural ranges have shifted by 59m in 42 years.

These moths "don't have options; they are being forced up, and at some point they will run out of land," reflected Dr Thomas.

The British scientist said that it was really too early to start generalising about the characteristics of the species that had shifted their distribution to stay within their optimal temperature range.

"But we know that the species which have expanded the most and fastest are the species that are not particularly fussy about where they live," he told BBC News.

The evolution and spread of trees stabilised river banks and changed landscapes around the world forever, geologists say.

Before the switch, broad, shallow, braided river channels could spread and migrate endlessly from side to side.

Only when tree-like plants with deep roots took hold some 330 million years ago did river banks finally come under control, say researchers.

Their assessment is published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

When the change occurred, rivers became single, deeper channels that meandered slowly across the floodplain, and only occasionally breaking their banks and carving out new channels.

The landscape has never looked back – large meandering river channels have dominated the lowlands ever since.

These stabilised, fixed-channel flood plains are well watered and can develop deep, organic soil, supporting rich, forested ecosystems.

This new paradigm for landscape and ecosystem evolution comes from field work and an analysis of 330 published studies of river channels preserved in rock strata and exposed in cliff faces.

Neil Davies and Martin Gibling from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, describe the appearance of a distinctive pattern of river deposits in sedimentary rocks from the Carboniferous Period that persists in every subsequent geological period.

In some places, the team noted that fossilised trunks and log jams had been preserved in channel sediments, proof that trees were growing along the banks.

"The depth and diversity of rooting increased dramatically," write the authors. "This would have greatly boosted the stability of the entire floodplain."

The Carboniferous Period saw complex and varied plant life flourish on Earth. In this period, thick coal deposits formed as plants died and were buried in the swampy plains. These deposits are the basis of our current carbon-based economy.

Flood plains also provide the most fertile farmland on Earth. They allowed early human civilisation to develop, with settled populations and agriculture, and are now home to some of the largest and most densely populated cities.

Shell has said safety is its "foremost priority" after calls for North Sea activities to be restricted in the wake of the oil leak.

The company has been tackling the release of more than 200 tonnes of oil near the Gannet Alpha platform.

A relief valve was closed by divers on Friday.

Environmental organisation WWF Scotland said operations should be restricted pending an infrastructure audit. Shell said safety was always paramount.

The company said in a statement: "Safety is Shell's foremost priority at all times.

"As part of that commitment, in 2004 Shell initiated a $1.2bn (£728m) project to upgrade our assets in the North Sea. This has been completed.

"This year alone, we plan to invest approximately $600m (£363m) in our assets in the region.

"The 2003 audit, eight years ago, was one of the things that led to the huge investment programme."

The oil giant said oil had been seeping from the valve at a rate of less than one barrel a day before it was closed.

The situation will continue to be monitored.

The leak – about 300ft (91m) below the surface – had been discovered earlier this month.

The Gannet Alpha oil platform is 113 miles (180km) off Aberdeen.

The best of British summer may have passed, but it is never too late to go sun seeking further afield.

Alongside food poisoning and jetlag, taking photographs is an essential part of the holiday experience.

But airlines' less-than-generous luggage allowance means you may have to make difficult decisions about which camera to take.

Is the the extra weight and bulk of an SLR camera worth the hassle? Can holiday snappers get away with a decent mobile phone camera? Or would a compact offer the best of both worlds?

In the name of research I sacrificed most of my outfits and instead took a smartphone, a mid-range compact camera and an SLR on holiday to see how they fared against each other in a semi-wild environment, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

Over 3,500 animals live in the complex. The safari tour had a selection of photo scenarios for testing, including close-ups, quick reaction shots and wide landscapes.

Model: (Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc)

Weight: 117g plus charger, 8.1MP camera

Size: 125.0 x 63.0 x 8.7 mm – SMALL

The phone performed especially well in landscape mode, with lovely wide angle shots of the scenery and beautiful colours.

Close-up shots were favourable, even at around 20cm (8 inches) from the subject.

Auto-focus meant all I had to think about was composition, although I was at the mercy of the phone for a lot of the settings – great for point-and-shoot opportunistic pictures, but I missed a decent optical zoom, so some animal pictures looked a little distant.

It was easy to share images online over wifi (never with roaming 3G data charges!) but I had to be mindful of battery life in case I needed to make any calls – talking of which, the phone rang which then meant I had to answer it instead of snap a rhino being fed apples by a small child.

Perfect for: Weekend city breaks, social occasions, and casual shooting where the action is close to you.

Model: (Nikon P7000)

Weight: 360g plus charger, 10.1MP camera

Size: 114.0 x 77.0 x 45 mm – MEDIUM

These come in all shapes and sizes, but we used a mid-range compact with some advanced features like being able to adjust the aperture and exposure.

The camera was user-friendly, and gave excellent quality photos without the fuss of having to change lenses or setting it to anything in particular.

It had a built-in flash, and extra settings for the adventurous to twiddle with, as well as a video mode. However, when taking photos, the screen was difficult to see in the sun – and the many buttons were a little fiddly.

For pictures which required a quick zoom in, it was difficult to get late-reaction shots, as the camera was not as responsive as expected.

Overall a good performer – it was possible to vary shots and play around with depth of field, which should keep most people happy.

Perfect for: Sightseeing, casual shooting, close-up and distant shots, creative photography.

Model: Canon 5D plus 3 lenses and filters

Weight: 6.5kg including charger and bag

Size: 152.0 x 113.5 x 75.0mm – BIG

This was the largest and most unwieldy of the three, including swappable lenses and filters.

Of course an SLR is a pro camera which can take really high quality images incredibly fast at varying distances.

Changing the lens to make the right shot allowed for extra flexibility, and the overall picture quality was (unsurprisingly) impressive.

From eye to shot it felt instantaneous, and being able to add, say, a polarizing filter to the lens allowed for even more control over the resulting picture.

However, when a giraffe leant into the caravan, we had to stop and change the lens before taking a picture, then change it again for another shot, while others were busy capturing the event.

Perfect for: Photo addicts who are going to take their beloved camera anyway, strong-shouldered types, confident SLR-users on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday.

Holidays may be a great time to get comfortable with new kit, depending on our idea of fun, but which camera actually makes it into carry-on still remains a matter of individual preference and compromise, not unlike everything else we pack for a holiday.

The test did indicate that after using a more advanced camera, it may be harder to downgrade to a less flexible model.

For example, my travelling companion – an SLR enthusiast – was impressed by the compact, but said they would still take their SLR to most events, be they socialising, sunsets or safaris.

Below are a few scenarios that might help with decisions about what to choose.

Woot! Technology-inspired words are among the 400 added to the newest Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

"The expression 'woot' began in America but was picked up very quickly by people in Britain, as a result of the internet breaking down international boundaries," said Mr Stevenson.

In the most recent edition, follower has been amended to also mean "someone who is tracking a particular person, group, etc. on a social networking site".

Meanwhile, friend has been redefined by the Facebook generation to simply mean someone you regularly interact with online.

Senior editor of the dictionary, Fiona McPherson said that it was important to make sure new words have entered common usage.

"First and foremost it's about the evidence. So as long as people are using it and we can find independent examples."

She explained that independent could mean appearances in newspapers and books.

"Some words are flash in the pan, but you can normally gauge by using your own judgement whether or not something is going to have a life," added Ms McPherson.

Despite the embracing of new, hip words and phrases, the editors of the dictionary openly admit they are not always enthusiastic users of the new lexicon.

"I don't know why people can't just say hurrah but maybe I'm being old fashioned," said Mr Stevenson.

Fewer than 50% of UK children aged eight to 17 read a novel outside class every month, research suggests.

The survey also raises concerns that some youngsters are not reading at all, which can hinder their achievement in the classroom.

One in six (16.4%) said they "rarely" read outside class, while 7.3% admitted that they never read outside class.

Trust director Jonathan Douglas said he was worried the youngsters who did not for pleasure would "grow up to be the one in six adults who struggle with literacy".

He added: "Getting these children reading and helping them to love reading is the way to turn their lives around and give them new opportunities and aspirations."

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