Plumbing trees' plumbing reveals their engineering skill
...water flow. "The data are interesting because they show that the same individual plant can adjust its anatomy and physiology to maximize water transport deep underground where the plant is less likely to experience drought or freezing conditions which cause cavitation," said Jackson. "The surprise was the...Counting foxes before the last tally-ho
...stimate for foxes living in Britain. Their results show that the number of foxes has remained constant des...hunting is banned." By itself, the survey does not show whether fox numbers would increase if people stopped hunting them. However another study, funded by ...Nucleic acid-amplification testing further safeguards nation's blood supply
...he study is the first and only one of its scope to show the effectiveness of the NAT assay system nationally. All major blood donation laboratories in the United States participated, accounting for more than 98 percent of tested blood donations. Many organizations collaborated on the research, including ...The first engineering of cell surfaces in living animals
... trick is to get the azide half of the reaction to show up on cell surfaces. In cell cultures, this is done by diffusing into the cells a precursor, containing the azide group, of a commonly expressed form of oligosaccharide, or sugar, that includes sialic acid. The cells manufacture these azide-bearing s...New model can aid in understanding immune system diseases
...ific organs or tissues. Previous UI studies helped show that this viral protein mimics a normal cellular p...also autoimmune diseases. "Epidemiological studies show a correlative link between acute Epstein-Barr virus and autoimmune diseases, particularly lupus and ...New mechanism for display of foreign proteins to immune system
...r chopping up proteins. The researchers went on to show that the cysteine protease Cat S plays a major rol... immunity to viruses and transplanted tissues. "We show unequivocally that this pathway is truly separate from the conventional TAP-dependent pathway. Havin...Progress in breast cancer progression
...y in Germany, used a breast cancer model system to show that a protein called NF-kB, which works in the cell by turning on a variety of other genes, is involved in tumor progression when its activity in the cell is altered. The authors showed that NF-kB is essential for the initial transition stage called...JCI table of contents, 16 August, 2004
...y in Germany, used a breast cancer model system to show that a protein called NF-kB, which works in the cell by turning on a variety of other genes, is involved in tumor progression when its activity in the cell is altered. The authors showed that NF-kB is essential for the initial transition stage called...Rare mutations can significantly increase risk factor for heart disease
...ned cells from the individuals in that analysis to show that sequence variants in the low-HDL group were functionally important. According to the researchers, the results of their study provide direct evidence that rare variations in DNA significantly affect levels of HDL in the blood. A better understan...Retroviral gene therapy? ASLV, HIV, and MLV show distinct target site preferences
...e human genome. The different vectors, they found, show different target preferences. Mitchell et al. studied vectors derived from the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), avian sarcoma-leukosis virus (ASLV), and murine leukemia virus (MLV). Introducing the viral vectors into human cells, the authors anal...Genes can influence both alcohol consumption and dependence
...ntake and alcohol dependence, but our results also show that while some genes affect both intake and dependence, others affect only dependence." Whitfield noted that one of the strengths of this study is its examination of long-term averages of intake. "Alcohol intake varies across time," he said. "A per...Protective gene may enhance vaccine responses
...gy published on-line August 15 -- the researchers show that activation of the gene for the Serine protease inhibitor 2A (Spi2A) can prevent the death of T cells during the contraction phase, resulting in about five times as many memory T cells. "Drugs based on protective factors such as Spi2A could provi...Technology already exists to stabilize global warming
...s per year by 2054. Pacala and Socolow show how each of the 15 options they identified could p...of the Earth's climate over the last million years show that various factors, such as changing carbon dioxide levels, tend to reinforce each other and cause...New comprehensive textbook on companion animals fills need
...nimal industry as possible. We wanted the book to show the breadth of opportunities that are available to students who study in companion animal biology programs." The 640-page book also could be a resource for students studying veterinary technology and as a reference book for animal lovers and people a...Applied Mathematical Models in Human Physiology
...e others are more detailed "reference" models that show the underlying physiological mechanisms and provide parameters for and validation of simpler models. The book also covers two-dimensional modeling of the fluid dynamics in the heart and its ability to pump, and includes a discussion of modeling wave-...Joslin Diabetes Center launches research section on developmental and stem cell biology
...damage to large or small blood vessels. Stem cells show promise repairing blood vessels, so researchers hope that they might be able to undo some of the long-term damage that results from diabetes. To unlock the therapeutic potential of stem cells, it will be necessary to understand the mechanisms that de...Excess levels of nitrogen, phosphorus linked to deformed frogs
...a bird." In their paper, Johnson and Chase show the links between phosphorus, snail biomass, the number of amphibians with the parasite, the number of parasites and how likely it is that the frogs will be deformed. They combined data from their studies of ponds in several Midwestern and Western S...Despite darkness, nocturnal bees learn visual landmarks while foraging at night
...researchers used infrared night-imaging cameras to show that by performing special orientation flights, Megalopta visually learns landmarks around the nest entrance prior to foraging and uses these landmarks to locate the nest upon return. The researchers found that if landmarks were moved to a nearby sit...You are what you eat: New insight into autophagy
..." writes Dr. Stenmark. Stenmark's group went on to show that that ecdysone, an insect hormone regulating development, has the ability to promote programmed autophagy via downregulation of PI3K signaling. A second study led by Dr. Thomas P. Neufeld from the Department of Genetics, Cell ...Genetic mutation linked to more aggressive breast cancer found more often in African-Americans
... independent of these factors. Recent studies also show that tumors in African-Americans have significant ...en were four times more likely than white women to show significant alterations in a tumor suppressor gene, p53. However, the prevalence of alterations in o...