Gender may impact fitness level
Obese men may not process carbohydrates as efficiently as obese women, a condition that can, ultimately, lead to a decrease in fitness level and the development of metabolic disorders. A new study published in the July issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), showed that severely obese men were more carbohydrate intolerant and had less physical endurance than severely obese women, leading research
A team of University of Minnesota researchers has discovered how a gene that suppresses the development of melanoma and other human cancers works. The study points the way to treatments based on the function of the gene. The researchers, led by Zigang Dong, director of the university’s Hormel Institute in Austin, Minn., have applied for a patent on one such treatment. The work will be published online July 10 in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
A critical event in th
Finding may yield a new test to explain recurring infections
A newly discovered gene mutation may account for many cases of immune deficiency, in particular two syndromes known as immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency and Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID), report researchers in the July issue of Nature Genetics. The discovery may lead to a new diagnostic test for these conditions, which make people highly susceptible to infections and often go unrecognized because of a lack
Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health, have discovered a genetically controlled brain mechanism responsible for social behavior in humans–one of the most important but least understood aspects of human nature. The findings are reported in Nature Neuroscience, published online on July 10, 2005.
The study compared the brains of healthy volunteers to those with a genetic abnormality, Williams Syndrome, a rare diso
Is your cup of coffee suffering from fertility problems? If you’re drinking the instant variety it may very well be! The Robusta crop (Coffea canephora), which is the main variety for producing instant coffee, suffers from ’self-incompatibility’ so can’t pollinate itself. This presents a dilemma for coffee farmers who have to grow it in mixed plantings so that cross-pollination takes place – but which varieties to cross with which?
Sylvester Tumusiime (Unive
A novel learning platform that uses a variety of mature technologies to support and expand teaching practices has recently completed testing, proving popular among high school students and teachers.
“The main part of the project used established pedagogical theories, such as the activity theory and the theory of expansive learning in a normal school environment. Of course we used technology to support this,” says Dr Costas Davarakis, project manager at Systema Technologies, the coord
Europe has made great strides towards agreeing on a genuine new mechanism to fund frontier research – the European Research Council (ERC). This is a cornerstone for achieving the ambitions of the European Council (Lisbon agenda) to increase substantially Europe’s innovativeness and competitiveness. The aim is to boost fundamental research as a means to be a winner in a world wide knowledge-based economy.
What has been collectively achieved over the past three years by a coalitio
Ainara Lecumberri Munárriz recently defended her PhD thesis at the Public University of Navarre, in which the applicability of new inductors derived from camphor in asymmetric alkylation and Diels-Alder reactions was studied.
Spatially selective synthesis
Assymetric synthesis is the process by which the molecule is made to react solely on one side. This is of interest because carbons are tetrahedral and the properties of the molecules depend on how their atoms are sit
Researchers have pinpointed specific gene and protein over-production in metastatic melanoma, pointing the way to a possible new drug target, according to a study published in Nature July 7.
Gene amplification is a process that often happens in cancer cells when the normal DNA replication process is altered, causing many copies of the gene to be produced instead of a single copy of a region of a chromosome.
The researchers found that the MITF (microphthalmia-associated tr
Here come the X-rays, on cue. Scientists studying the Deep Impact collision using NASA’s Swift satellite report that comet Tempel 1 is getting brighter and brighter in X-ray light with each passing day.
The X-rays provide a direct measurement of how much material was kicked up in the impact. This is because the X-rays are created by the newly liberated material lifted into the comet’s thin atmosphere and illuminated by the high-energy solar wind from the Sun. The more m
Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered an inherited structural mechanism that can make drugs for some diseases toxic for some patients. The mechanism decreases a protein and in turn causes certain individuals to metabolize thiopurine drugs differently. Thiopurine therapies are used to treat patients with childhood leukemia, autoimmune diseases and organ transplants. The Mayo researchers say their finding advances the field of pharmacogenomics, which tailors medicine to a patient’s personal gen
Understanding why some parts of the world sustain more species than others is one of the most enigmatic problems in ecology. One particularly common pattern is a “hump-shaped” biodiversity gradient: for example, biodiversity peaks near the equator and declines going either north or south.
Historically, explanations for such gradients invoked coincident geographical variation in environmental factors hypothesized to reduce extinction rates or promote the evolution of new species.
Ground-breaking research is reshaping understanding of the avian brain and holds promise in teaching learning-disabled children
A Brandeis University researcher has shown that an African grey parrot with a walnut-sized brain understands a numerical concept akin to zero – an abstract notion that humans don’t typically understand until age three or four, and that can significantly challenge learning-disabled children.
Strikingly, Alex, the 28-year-old parrot who lives
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have determined how serotonin decreases the body’s sensitivity to light and that exposure to constant darkness leads to a decrease in serotonin levels in the brain of fruit flies. These findings suggest that serotonin may play a role in maintaining circadian rhythm, as well as modulating light-related disorders such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Senior author Amita Sehgal, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience at Penn and a Howard
Rice University/Baylor College of Medicine study focuses on peripheral arterial disease
Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) are more likely to have a foot or leg amputated if they live in a region that has few vascular surgeons, according to a Rice University/Baylor College of Medicine study published in the July issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery.
“We found that areas of the country that had higher numbers of vascular surgeons had more bypass surgery
Prenatal efforts ineffective
The key to preventing postpartum depression may be individual support provided after birth by a health professional and tailored to a mother’s needs, says a University of Toronto researcher.
“Health professionals want to identify pregnant women who may be at risk for postpartum depression in hopes of initiating preventive strategies,” says U of T nursing professor Cindy-Lee Dennis. “But in my review of studies from around the world, I fo
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