Ten construction workers will often get a job done faster than one. But in digging a deep well, for instance, ten workers are a waste of human resources: the diggers can’t work simultaneously, as the second worker isn’t able to start digging until the first one has finished, and so on.
A similar challenge is encountered by scientists who study the structure and dynamics of molecules using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. This technique serves as an essential tool in understand
Findings Support Hygiene Hypothesis
Researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center have gathered strong experimental support for the hygiene hypothesis, a proposed explanation for the worldwide rise in asthma and allergies. The research team, led by Richard Martin, M.D., found that early infection with the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae reduced a mouse’s subsequent response to allergens. Alternatively, mice exposed to allergens prior to infection, developed a stronge
Parents concerned about use of oral steroids to treat their asthmatic children will be reassured by a new study conducted by a team of clinicians at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and the Shriners Hospital (Montreal). This study, the first to evaluate the effects of short courses of oral steroids on bone density and hormone function, was published in the February issue of the international journal Pediatrics.
“Often parents will be hesitant to administer
Ever wonder where your favourite ESA Earth observation satellites are, right now?
Now that curiosity can be satisfied from your PC, thanks to ESA’s Satellites in Orbits website and the new addition of its Earth observation missions. The Earth Observation Orbits site displays real-time information and animations about the orbital tracks and current locations of ESA’s four Earth imaging satellites that were launched to help us better understand our own planet.
The interactive
A strong link exists between lifetime exposure to ultraviolet light, particularly lifetime sunburns, and the development of melanoma – the most lethal form of skin cancer.
Now, for the first time, scientists have identified a specific molecular pathway within cells that becomes mutated by ultraviolet light exposure, thereby speeding up melanoma development.
New findings published in the Feb. 4 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences may have implications fo
Explosive detonations at speeds faster than current theories predict have been shown to be possible in a powerful new computer simulation developed by a physical chemist and an aerospace engineer at Penn State. James B. Anderson, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry and Physics, and Lyle N. Long, Professor of Aerospace Engineering, say their simulation points the way toward the production of ultrafast detonations, which could lead to innovative propulsion systems for space travel and a better understandi
Researchers devise new technique and measure the forces required to unzip DNA
Fifty years after James Watson and Francis Crick’s publication of the structure of DNA, research in the latest issue of the Journal of Biology shows how scientists can now measure the forces needed to tear the DNA double helix apart. The work was carried out using the first successful simultaneous combination of two important techniques for looking at single molecules – single molecule fluorescence and
In order for robots to replace or assist humans in dangerous, delicate, or remote situations, such as military reconnaissance, neural microsurgery, or extra-planetary probes, they must have sensory abilities similar to or superior to humans. The sense of touch has proved particularly difficult to duplicate through artificial sensors due to the harsh environments such artificial ’skins’ would encounter.
In a paper published today in the Institute of Physics’ Journal of Micromec
On a semiconductor chip, one essential element is missing: a lightsource. An integrated lightsource can be very useful, however. In optical telecommunications, for example, or in lab-on-a-chip applications. University of Twente’s Phuong Le Minh developed a nanoscale integrated lightsourse. The principle of this tiny light source was discoverd by coincidence, performing semiconductor breakdown experiments. Le Minh succeeded in fabricating a micro channel
The nano-lightsource is formed by ‘con
Increasing hormone causes increase of appetite, eating
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have identified a key hormone involved in appetite control and demonstrated its effect on the brain. Scientists have shown that the hormone, called ghrelin, activates specialized neurons in the hypothalamus involved in weight regulation. The research involved scientists at several collaborating institutions, including: Yale Medical School, Baylor College of Medicine, the Uni
Greater insight into human brain disease may emerge from studies of a new genetic mutation that causes adult fruit flies to develop symptoms akin to Alzheimer’s disease.
“This is the first fruit fly mutant to show some of the outward, physical manifestations common to certain major human neurodegenerative diseases,” said principal investigator Michael McKeown, a biology professor at Brown University.
A research team found the mutation in a gene they named “blue cheese.” Reporting i
To assess the wear and tear on jet engine parts, mechanics used an old technology called ferrography to run the aircraft’s lubricating fluid through a magnetic device to separate out metal shavings and other ferrous engine debris. A University of Rhode Island researcher uses a similar process to assess the wear and tear on artificial hip and knee joints so patients can reduce the number of follow-up surgeries they must undergo or reduce the time spent in revision surgery.
Donna Meyer,
A common genetic variant influences individual responses and adaptation to pain and other stressful stimuli and may underlie vulnerability to many psychiatric and other complex diseases, reports David Goldman, M.D., Chief, Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and colleagues at NIAAA and the University of Michigan. COMT val158met Genotype Affects m-Opioid Neurotransmitter Responses to a Pain Stressor appears in the February 21 issue of Science (299:1240, 200
Dr. Kouros Motamed is studying endothelial cells where they live, in the complex environment that provides, not only support and structure, but regulation and direction.
As he studies these cells that line blood vessels, this vascular biologist at the Medical College of Georgia focuses on the proteins and growth factors that regulate their normal processes, including proliferation, differentiation, migration and death.
He wants to better understand how these cells interact with th
B cell chromatin study strikes physiological chord
Some cells sing with the chorus, while others unwittingly achieve fame on their own. The immune system’s B cell is a true diva that spends its early days preparing for the ultimate audition. Its repertoire of possible antibodies to invading microbes totals 50 million. For the immune system, this repertoire means the difference between destroying a potentially lethal antigen or not.
Since the late 1970s, the genes for makin
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Sheffield report in the Feb. 21 issue of Science that they have created tree-like molecules that assemble themselves into precisely structured building blocks of a quarter- million atoms. Such building blocks may be precursors to designing nanostructures for molecular electronics or photonics materials, which “steer” light in the same way computer chips steer electrons.
Virgil Percec, the P. Roy Vagelos Chair and Profes
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