Study begins to reveal clues to the cause and progression of sepsis
...s may yield better results. No one really knows why some people develop sepsis following an infection, said Scott Somers, Ph.D., who oversees sepsis grants at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which partially funded the work. This large study gives us a much clearer picture of sepsis...Protein 'chatter' linked to cancer activation
...of loss of DNA from chromosome ends. We didnt know why this happens; now we have found that the communication link between these proteins and a protein crucial for maintenance of chromosome ends is either missing or nonfunctional in these patients. Zhu further explains that lack of this cross talk in ...Risk of common vaginal infection linked to preterm birth appears higher for blacks
... There could be genetic differences that relate to why infection rates are different, and maybe some differences in nutritional status that could play a part. But we dont even know the differences in normal vaginal flora among racial groups, he said. More study is definitely needed. What we can say now i...X-ray images help explain limits to insect body size
...Argonne National Laboratory have cast new light on why the giant insects that lived millions of years ago disappeared. In the late Paleozoic Era, with atmospheric oxygen levels reaching record highs, some insects evolved into giants. When oxygen levels returned to lower levels, the insect giants went e...New, more direct pathways from outside the cell-to-cell nuclei discovered
...stered around a cell's nucleus. "It made me wonder why the phagosomes were positioned in that way," Gavin said. Thereafter, Gavin periodically looked for this intriguing behavior again, and occasionally glimpsed it again. But Gavin remained unable to systematically search for phagosome clusters around ...Abnormal fat metabolism underlies heart problems in diabetic patients
...t disease the major killer of diabetic people. But why is heart disease so prevalent among diabetics? To help answer that question, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been analyzing the fat (lipid) composition of heart tissue from laboratory mice with diabetes. They...Circadian clock controls plant growth hormone
...r said. The researchers hope to understand exactly why having a functional internal clock is important for plant health. ...New textbook illuminates the close links between evolutionary and molecular biology
...It allows us to ask not just how life evolved, but why it is as it is: Why do organisms develop from a single cell? Why is the genetic code as it is? Why is there sexual reproduction? The book is divided into four sections. The first three sections detail the history of evolutionary and molecular b...Sugar and spice and everything nice: Health differences in newborn girls and boys
Two new studies seek to understand why death rates for female infants are higher after heart surgery and why female donor livers may be less effective for transplants Austin, TX -- For generations, girls hav...The 'female advantage' in kidney disease does not extend to diabetic women
...nceiving. Studies In an effort to understand why women with diabetes are more likely to get kidney ...ced estrogen (estradiol) levels, which may explain why the females lose the protective factor when it comes to diabetes estrogen and estrogen-like s...What we can learn from the biggest extinction in the history of Earth
...eef leave, and the reef loses color-and one reason why algae might leave is temperature. For example, when ocean temperatures rise during El Nio years, corals bleach. This type of immediate response to environmental change is hard to track in the geologic record. "We hope to reconcile the short-term pr...Ecologists work to link kids with nature
... says Lowman. Kids need to touch flowers and know why some plants cant survive without pollinators such as bees. It also doesnt hurt to know the difference between a harmless king snake and a venomous coral snake! Richard Louv notes in his book that children growing up over the last 20 years have inc...Secret life of elephant seals not secret anymore!
...ey find food and where they dont, and help explain why some populations have remained stable since 1950 w...ons have different foraging strategies may explain why seal numbers in the Indian and Pacific declined between the 1950s and 1970s, while Atlantic populati...Link between sunspots, rain helps predict disease in east Africa
... States and Great Britain, offered several reasons why sunspot peaks may affect rainfall. The increased solar energy associated with sunspots, they suggest, heats both land and sea, forcing moist air to rise and triggering precipitation. It may also induce El Nio events, which increase rainfall in East A...Role of thyroid hormones in slumber under investigation at Rutgers
... sleep-regulatory substance and potentially answer why existing sleep medications arent the cure-all for everyone. Joseph V. Martin, a professor of biology, is the principle investigator and Alex Roche, an associate professor of chemistry, is the co-principal investigator of the ambitious project at R...UCLA scientists produce functioning neurons from human embryonic stem cells
... spinal cord. Sun and her team now are studying why the two human embryonic stem cell lines have biases to become different types of neurons. If we knew that, we might be able to tweak or alter whatever is driving the bias so that limitation in the stem cell line could be bypassed, Sun said. ...Pregnant mothers join search for causes of autism
...pant in the pilot phase of MARBLES will talk about why she became involved in the study. Irva Hertz-Picciotto, an expert on how environmental chemicals affect child development and MARBLES principal investigator, will share her inspiration for launching the study, insights from the pilot phase of...UCF research links proteins, stem cells and potential Alzheimer's treatment
...ding to the National Alzheimers Association. Thats why finding treatments has become so important to many scientists. Its very exciting, Sugaya said. If our success with mice can translate into the human brain, it could give hope to patients and their families. Sugaya, who is the founder of the Inter...Anthrax bacterium's deadly secrets probed
New insights into why the bug that causes anthrax behaves in the unusual...nd not in the soil. This finding sheds light on why Bacillus anthracis does not grow in soil, even though in many ways it resembles a soil-growing bacte...UF, French scientists seek test to detect gene doping in athletes
...ead of the game has never been more evident. Thats why the Montreal-based World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, charged with monitoring the conduct of athletes, is working with investigators around the globe to develop a test that would bust competitors for injecting themselves with genetic material capable...