Study begins to reveal clues to the cause and progression of sepsis
...e subject presented at the emergency room, tapered down over the first few days, but remained elevated throughout the first week of hospitalization even after the clinical signs of infection had subsided. Levels were highest in those with fatal severe sepsis, lowest in those with CAP but no sepsis. Our...Multinational research: protecting ecology means understanding people, too
...National Science Foundation grant aimed at cutting down barriers between biological and social science in order to help conserve the worlds rich biodiversity. When we were developing this project, we realized that there are many biological scientists working in conservation who lack training and skills i...Beyond batteries: Storing power in a sheet of paper
...n in temperatures up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and down to 100 below zero, the device is completely integrated and can be printed like paper. The device is also unique in that it can function as both a high-energy battery and a high-power supercapacitor, which are generally separate components in most ele...Which came first, the moth or the cactus?
...ment why. Holland, whose lab is just a few steps down the hall from his Houston office, jokes that his "real" lab is 1,500 miles away. He's studied senita at several locations in the Sonoran Desert, including the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona. But his primary site for more than...Gene regulation, not just genes, is what sets humans apart
...ugars in their diet are relatively simple to break down and convert to cellular fuel. Humans, on the other...the regulatory regions of their genes for breaking down more complex carbohydrates. It may be that parts of the human metabolism are cranked up to digest ca...OHSU turns mouse into factory for human liver cells
...aboratory animals because liver enzymes that break down these compounds are species specific. "Animal liver cells process drugs quite differently than human liver cells do," he said. Another obstacle for drug companies is the human liver cell market is filled with poor-quality or nonviable cells isolat...Secret life of elephant seals not secret anymore!
...ing changes in the rate at which seals drift up or down during passive drift dives, the scientists could determine where the seals were gaining fat (and becoming more buoyant) and where food was harder to find and the animals lost fat. These measurements have allowed us for the first time to make circum...Link identified between Alzheimer's disease and glaucoma
... actually an extension of brain tissue, travelling down the optic nerve into the back of the eye," she says. " High street opticians have been routinely looking at the brain in a more direct way than has been possible by high tech brain scanners such as MRI and CAT." Now, Dr Cordeiro believes that this ...In a first, Einstein scientists discover the dynamics of transcription in living mammalian cells
...me way that a Sunday driver on a narrow road slows down all traffic behind him. But in the absence of pausing, elongation proceeded much faster about 70 nucleotides synthesized per second than has previously been reported. These two phenomena pausing and rapid RNA synthesis during elongation may be ...Why nectar-feeding bats need a 'power drink' to fly
...these bats live on such an energetic knife edge is down to the food source they live on and the way they get around. They feed on floral nectars that contain simple sugars such as sucrose, glucose and fructose, but which are produced in only very small amounts by flowering plants. These sugars are rapidly...Handicapping tuberculosis may be the way to a better vaccine
...a process known as apoptosis, where the cell shuts down and is shredded into little pieces. Immune system cells further chop up these cellular bits and present them to white blood cells called T lymphocytes. Each T lymphocyte specifically recognizes a different small piece of protein, known as a peptide....Orangutans' communication resembles a game of 'charades'
...d. When partially understood, the animals narrowed down their range of signals by focusing on gestures already used and repeating them frequently. In contrast, when completely misunderstood, orangutans elaborated their range of gestures and avoided repetition of "failed" signals. The response showed tha...How a pain in the neck could be bad for your blood pressure
...the brain as we change posture, such as from lying down to standing up. Where such signalling fails, we can suffer problems with balance and blood pressure. The findings offer a clear rationale for manipulative treatments: Reports from chiropractic journals say that manipulating the neck region helps t...Cost-effective method for gene silencing is featured in Cold Spring Harbor Protocols
...uld insert short RNA molecules into worms and shut down specific genes. Today, scientists routinely use this powerful method, termed RNA interference, to study the functions of specific genes in mammalian systems. In order to conduct these experiments, scientists generally rely on chemical synthesis of...Under magnetic force, nanoparticles may deliver gene therapy
...(PEI). The PEI protected the DNA from being broken down by enzymes called endonucleases that were present ...the nanoparticles are biodegradable, so they break down into simpler, nontoxic chemicals that can be carried away in the blood. Previous researchers had sho...American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- July 25, 2007
...l impact of oil dispersants, detergents used break down oil spills into smaller, less harmful droplets. In the new report, Shai Shafir and colleagues evaluated the effects of both crude oil and six commercial oil dispersants under laboratory conditions on the growth and survival of two important species...New aerogels could clean contaminated water, purify hydrogen for fuel cells
...zed," said Kanatzidis. "We turned the flask upside down and nothing flowed." Generally, such reactions produce only uninteresting precipitates at the bottom of the flask, he said, so that in this case, "we knew we had something special." Kanatzidis and his co-workers recognized that aerogels offered o...MIT team building robotic fin for submarines
... Department of Mechanical Engineering, have broken down the fin movement of the bluegill sunfish into 19 components and analyzed which ones are critical to achieving the fish's powerful forward thrust. We don't want to replicate exactly what nature does, said Tangorra, who will soon be joining the facul...Insulin grown in plants relieves diabetes in mice; UCF study holds promise for humans
...stine, bacteria living there begin to slowly break down the cell walls and gradually release insulin into the bloodstream. Currently, the only relief for diabetes is a momentary relief, Daniell said. Diabetics still have to monitor their blood and urine sugar levels. They have to inject themselves with ......osis and those without the disease After winnowing down 28 candidate genes to the IL-7R gene, the researchers then tested their findings on a different set of patient populations to confirm their findings. One of the greatest challenges in any effort to identify genes for complex diseases like multiple ...