A component of red wine, resveratrol, seems to damp down the inflammatory process in the progressive lung disease COPD, finds a small study in Thorax.
So effective was resveratrol in laboratory tests that the authors suggest that the compound could be developed to treat the disease.
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is irreversible and progressive. The lungs deteriorate, making it difficult, and eventually impossible, to breathe. Treatment is at best palliative. Smoking
Lowering blood pressure in the first 24 hours following a stroke can be harmful to recovery, according to a study published in the October 28 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A team in Brazil studied blood pressure in 115 stroke patients. The average blood pressure upon hospital admission was 160/94 mm Hg (mercury). Blood pressure dropped in all patients – either spontaneously or with medication – during the first 24 hours after stroke (the
Smokers are nearly twice as likely to develop multiple sclerosis (MS) as people who have never smoked, according to a study published in the October 28 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The risk was increased for people whether they were smokers at the time they developed MS or were past smokers. “This is one more reason for young people to avoid smoking,” said study author Trond Riise, PhD, of the University of Bergen in Norway. “Hopef
Silicone rubber and other rubber-like materials have a wide variety of uses, but in almost every case they must be reinforced with particles to make them stronger or less permeable to gases or liquids. University of Cincinnati (UC) chemistry professor James Mark and colleagues have devised a technique that strengthens silicone rubber with nanoscale particles, but leaves the material crystal clear.
Silicone rubber is often reinforced by tiny particles of silica (the primary component of sand
Molecular coating could aid nanoscale assembly, microfuidics
Materials researchers at Iowa State University, working in part under a grant from the National Science Foundation, have demonstrated a novel coating that makes surfaces “smart”—meaning the surfaces can be switched back and forth between glassy-slick and rubbery on a scale of nanometers, the size of just a few molecules.
Possible applications include the directed assembly of inorganic nanoparticles, proteins, and na
Rooftop satellite receivers can look out of place with the historic surroundings of ancient cities. In the first-time participation with ESA, a Greek company is working to solve this.
The project is to develop a kind of satellite receiver known as a planar array. Unlike more commonly seen parabola-shaped dishes, planar arrays pick up less interference from other satellites. Another feature is their square, flat shape.
Low-visibility is a major concern in Greece; unsightly satellite dish
Results of 41,885 Patient Analysis Announced at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting
The disease modifying anti-rheumatic arthritis drug (DMARD), leflunomide does not have a higher risk of liver side effects than the traditional drug, but other newer DMARDs may, according to investigators at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (MUHC). Their findings, presented today at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting, s
How can you be sure your on-line transactions are secure, and find out if anybody has been siphoning off money from your credit card? The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has developed a way of handling electronic information to protect the rights of cyberspace users and guard against fraud when buying on the Internet.
The EU Cyber Tools On-Line Search for Evidence (CTOSE) project helps identify, secure, integrate and present electronic evidence on on-line criminal offence
How the same enzyme helps protect brain cells from the destruction of Alzheimer’s yet contributes to the blood vessel disease of diabetics is a puzzle Dr. Mario B. Marrero wants to solve.
“I call JAK2 the good, the bad and the ugly because its function depends on the cell type and where it acts,” says the biochemist at the Medical College of Georgia who wants to eliminate – or at least control – the “bad” and “ugly.”
JAK2, or janus kinase 2, is an enzyme found in all cells th
An insidious fuzzy gray mold that often coats refrigerated strawberries and many other plants during growing and storage may be prevented by a gene identified by a Purdue University researcher.
The mold is caused by a fungus, Botrytis cinerea, that often enters plant tissue through wounded or dead areas such as wilted petals, bruised fruit or at the site of pruning. In the November issue of the journal The Plant Cell, Purdue plant molecular biologist Tesfaye Mengiste and his colleagues at Sy
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed an easier and less expensive way to make sockets for prosthetic limbs.
The study’s principal investigator, Jack R. Engsberg, Ph.D., will receive the Howard R. Thranhardt Lecture Honorarium for this work and present preliminary findings at the National Assembly of the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, in Reno, Nev.
“What we’re doing is an entirel
Imaging studies yield a potential core marker for reading problems, underscore neurological basis of difficulties
Researchers have additional evidence that reading problems are linked to abnormal sound processing, thanks to high-precision pictures of the brain at work. In a recent study, when children without reading problems tried to distinguish between similar spoken syllables, speech areas in the left brain worked much harder than corresponding areas in the right brain, whose funct
Johns Hopkins researchers have uncovered a key step in the body’s regulation of melatonin, a major sleep-related chemical in the brain. In the advance online section of Nature Structural Biology, the research team reports finding the switch that causes destruction of the enzyme that makes melatonin — no enzyme, no melatonin.
Melatonin levels are high at night and low during the day. Even at night, melatonin disappears after exposure to bright light, a response that likely contributes
Study shows vast amounts of ’buried sunshine’ needed to fuel society
A staggering 98 tons of prehistoric, buried plant material – that’s 196,000 pounds – is required to produce each gallon of gasoline we burn in our cars, SUVs, trucks and other vehicles, according to a study conducted at the University of Utah.
“Can you imagine loading 40 acres worth of wheat – stalks, roots and all – into the tank of your car or SUV every 20 miles?” asks ecologist Jeff Dukes,
Cancer is a complex disease where multiple genetic and environmental factors contribute to risk. Its onset and progression depends on the combination of a series of genetic disruptions rather than on a single event. At a genetic level, it is not just presence or absence of a gene (or a mutated version of the gene) that causes disease, but as Pier Paolo Pandolfi and colleagues report, protein “dose”–that is, the level of remaining activity–also influences cancer progression.
Focusing on th
Opencast mining companies seeking permission for new sites should tackle parents’ fears about their children’s health as early as possible, new research suggests.
A new study, by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, published in the current edition of the academic journal, Social Science and Medicine (1), indicates that residents are likely to oppose new proposals for opencast mines, even if communities surrounding existing sites have had positive experiences.
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