Chemotherapy and organ transplantation not only take a huge toll on patients, but they can compromise the immune system and leave patients vulnerable to infections from microbes such as pathogenic fungi–the fastest-growing cause of hospital-acquired infections. Now researchers from Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have discovered one possible reason why these fungal microbes are such a scourge.
According to the research appearing in the August 7 online edition of t
The latest issue of Conservation Biology examines the viability of the Sinai baton blue and the results of human population pressures. The study predicts that in the absence of global warming, grazing, and plant collection (three activities directly linked to humans) the world’s smallest butterfly would persist for at least 200 years. The population could withstand small increases in grazing intensity that would decrease their climate, but not increases in temperature. As the level of global warmin
The continual and inevitable shortening of telomeres, the protective “caps” at the end of all 46 human chromosomes, has been linked to aging and physical decline. Once they are gone, so are we. But there are more ways than one to grow old.
Researchers at Salk Institute for Biological Studies demonstrate for the first time that the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans succumbs to the trials of old age although its telomeres are still long, and moves with a youthful spring in its craw
On its recent close flyby of Mimas (MY-muss), the Cassini spacecraft found the Saturnian moon looking battered and bruised, with a surface that may be the most heavily cratered in the Saturn system.
The Aug. 2 flyby of Saturn’s ’Death Star’ moon returned eye-catching images of its most distinctive feature, the spectacular 140-kilometer diameter (87-mile) landslide-filled Hershel crater. Numerous rounded and worn-out craters, craters within other craters and long grooves reminiscent of
Scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a protein that may inhibit cellular movement, or migration.
The protein, CIB1, or calcium and integrin-binding protein 1, was originally discovered at UNC in 1997 as a blood platelet protein that may play a role in clotting.
Cell migration belongs to the most rudimentary of cellular functions that allow processes such as f
The difficulty of detecting the presence of explosives and chemical warfare agents (CWAs) is once again all too apparent in the news about the London bombings.
In a significant breakthrough, researchers at Northwestern University’s Center for Quantum Devices have demonstrated a specialized diode laser that holds promise as a weapon of defense in both civilian and military applications. Once optimized, the tiny laser could quickly detect explosives and CWAs early and warn agai
Two minor changes in technique could make a major difference in the radiation dose used in survey CT scans, a new study shows. Survey scans are those that are performed before a regular CT scan, usually to plan for the examination.
The radiation dose in a survey scan can be as high as that of four chest X-rays, said Dianna D. Cody, PhD, associate professor in the department of imaging physics at The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. The radiation dose
Using a powerful microscope and computer software, a team of scientists from Johns Hopkins, the University of Arkansas, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and elsewhere has developed a faster and more objective way to examine the surfaces of fossilized teeth, a practice used to figure out the diets of our early ancestors.
By comparing teeth from two species of early humans, Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus, the researchers confirm previous evidence that A. african
Speakers Can Avoid Confusion for Listeners, Researchers Find
If someone told you to “put the apple in the basket on the table,” what would you do? Depending on how many apples and baskets are in your kitchen, it might not be clear. Would you move the apple in the basket to the table, or move the apple to the basket on the table? Had the speaker included the word “that’s” after the word “apple,” it would have eliminated any confusion. But people often fail to avoid such ambi
Routinely discarded as medical waste, placental tissue could feasibly provide an abundant source of cells with the same potential to treat diseases and regenerate tissues as their more controversial counterparts, embryonic stem cells, suggests a University of Pittsburgh study to be published in the journal Stem Cells and available now as an early online publication in Stem Cells Express.
A part of the placenta called the amnion, or the outer membrane of the amniotic sac, is comp
This Proba image shows the region around Samoylov Island, located within the Lena River Delta on the Laptev Sea coast of Northern Siberia. The small pear-shaped island of Samoylov in the lower middle of the image is one of the Delta’s more than 1 500 individual islands.
The Lena Delta, covering an area of about 32 000 square kilometres, is a haven for Arctic wildlife that transforms for five months each summer from frozen tundra to fertile wetlands. The Delta is located at t
Meta-analysis of epidemiological studies finds some support for a link
An analysis of 21 studies that have investigated the link between ovarian cancer and the consumption of milk products and lactose has found some support for the hypothesis that high intake is associated with increased cancer risk. The results of this analysis, published online August 5, 2005 in the International Journal of Cancer, the official journal of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), found th
LSU climatologists use historical records to put 2005 season in perspective
On Tuesday, Aug. 2, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration revised its previous hurricane forecast, predicting that there would be an additional 11-14 named storms in 2005. This brought the total projection for the year to 18-21 storms. Based on their research into hurricane season records dating back to 1851, two LSU climatologists believe that this new prediction is likely accurate and
Record oil prices and incentives to find alternative fuel sources are lighting a fire under research to turn biomass materials such as manure into energy.
Texas Senate Bill 20, signed this week by Gov. Rick Perry, compliments research under way to determine how and where biomass can be used. The new law requires more renewable energy to be developed and used in the next 10 years.
Combining consumer energy needs and agriculture industry trends with the legislation wi
Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory – Stennis Space Center (NRL-SSC) measured a record-size ocean wave when the eye of Hurricane Ivan passed over NRL moorings deployed last May in the Gulf of Mexico. The possibility of a super wave is often suggested by anecdotal evidence such as damage caused by Hurricane Ivan in September of 2004 to an offshore rig in the Gulf of Mexico that was nearly 80 feet above the ocean surface. Hence, some of the destruction done by Ivan has been attributed to
Defects in a single gene can result in two immune system disorders that leave affected individuals vulnerable to frequent or unusually severe infections, according to new findings reported in the August issue of Nature Genetics. The discovery may lead to new diagnostic tests for these two inherited conditions–immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency and common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) Currently, doctors diagnose the conditions by measuring immunoglobulin levels and excluding other causes for
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