For years, the comparison of simulated and experimental protein folding kinetics has been a “Holy Grail” for biologists and chemists. But scientists seeking to confirm protein-folding theory with laboratory experiments have been unable to cross the microsecond barrier. This obstacle in time existed because experiments could not be performed fast enough, nor simulations run long enough, to permit a direct comparison.
Now, measurements from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and m
UCSF-led researchers have developed a highly sensitive, automated test for detecting prions (PREE-on) that they report significantly improves the accuracy and speed of detecting the various forms of the infectious agent, which causes a set of neurodegenerative diseases, in cattle, sheep, deer and elk.
Because the test is automated, the researchers say, it could be used for high-throughput testing of brain samples of cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or “mad cow” disease, a
Broad community initiatives that use local coalitions to reduce alcohol and drug abuse are largely ineffective and may even have a negative effect for some goals, according to a new study of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Fighting Back campaign.
“Supporting the activities of local coalitions is both intuitively attractive (bringing the community together to address local problems) and politically popular (spreading the money around),” says Denise Hallfors, Ph.D., of the Pacific Instit
Researchers recommend testing symptomatic patients for the condition
Researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center (Kansas City) urge physicians to consider adding fructose breath testing to their diagnostic strategy for patients with unexplained abdominal pain, gas, diarrhea, and intestinal rumbling or gurgling. The recent study’s results, presented at the 67th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, indicate that fructose malabsorption oc
The use of a small wireless capsule video device to detect bleeding in the small intestine is safe, well-tolerated, and more accurate than another common diagnostic approach according to a study presented at the 67th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology.
“The investigation of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding is often difficult due to limitations of conventional endoscopic studies in the detection of disorders in the small intestine,” said Ramona M. Lim, M.D
One of the world’s largest and most successful experimental fusion machines has been safely disassembled and cleared away. In September, staff at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) completed the dismantling and removal of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR), which shut down in 1997 following 15 years of operation. During its experimental life, TFTR set records for fusion performance and made major contributions to the development of fusion as
A British physicist has come up with a way to reveal the shifting and shining colours that form in the dark spots where light waves interfere with each other. The patterns await experimental demonstration but computer-generated images are already illuminating new aspects of light that had until now remained in the shadows.
When two waves meet their peaks and troughs interfere. If the peaks are in phase you get a higher peak as the energies of each wave add together, two troughs take away from eac
First line chemotherapy containing Taxol is an independent predictive factor for survival
New data presented for the first time today adds to existing evidence that Taxol? offers women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) a 31% improvement in overall survival compared to standard treatment and a 33% chance of improved progression free survival, the largest improvements ever seen. The data collected from 640 patients treated in a consecutive series of studies between 1994 and 2001 als
The treatment of BSE residues through anaerobic digestion is, according to Quercus, the most efficient and fruitful way of resolving this environmental question.
This is a biological process successfully put into practice in a national company, ITS Marques, and consists of the degradation of organic matter by microorganisms in the absence of oxygen.
After being put in a closed receptacle (called a “digester”), the organic matter is transformed into gas by the existing microorganisms. M
Ageing does not only affect the way we look from outside; the microbiota living in our gut also changes with age. The intestinal microbiota of infants is quite well identified, but only 8% of the microbes in elderly people can be characterised at the moment.
We all carry inside us millions of mostly beneficial bacteria that help us manage our diet successfully and maintain our health, although we seldom realise it. So far, the composition of our microbiota is still an area that we know rathe
The animals and plants of our planet are becoming extinct under the pressure of civilization. The scientists have counted that one species vanishes from Earth every hour. The mammoth, passenger pigeon, gare-fowl, Steller`s sea cow – these are the most well-known of extinct species, but hundreds of species are next in turn. Can the scientists forecast what species is the first in this succession and what species is not under the threat of complete extinction? If the answer is known, the effort and fun
What happens if fog comes on roads? First of all, visibility falls down, so the risk for a car accident increases, especially on highways. Scientists from Central Aerological Observatory have constructed a special electrostatic filter, which eliminates the fog at a distance up to 10 meters. The filter looks like a metal frame with a precipitation electrode – thin metal plates, separated with high-voltage isolators. It also has a corona-forming electrode of a twisted wire. The unit is grounded with a
New results from experiments at a unique ecology facility show that plant communities are dramatically altered by changes to the type of animal species living among their roots, but that key ecosystem measurements such as overall agricultural yield or the amount of soil carbon stored are unaffected.
According to the results of a three year study into the processes of experimental grassland ecosystems published in the journal Science today, changes to the makeup of soil communities from small
Are European forests, soil and grass part of the solution for dealing with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions? Today the European Commission presented the CarboEurope research initiative in Valencia (Spain). It is a cluster of 15 research projects supported by the European Commission with a budget of €25 million. The project brings together around 160 research institutions from over 20 countries. It looks at whether the biosphere, and above all forests, can reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide i
New Report Discovers Carbon Trading to Be Win-Win Proposition for Poor Villagers, Big Business, and for Slowing Climate Change
As the next major meeting on global climate change opens in New Delhi next week, a potentially controversial report concludes that deals to counteract the carbon emissions of the smokestack industry could benefit more than the environment. It reveals that carbon-trading deals in forestry could sharply reduce poverty among the rural poor, while also providing
The world speed record for protein folding apparently goes to an unusually tiny specimen that traces its origins to Gila monster spit.
So reports a team of University of Florida researchers in a paper published this week in the online edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Though significant mainly from a purely scientific standpoint, the finding eventually may be important in researchers’ understanding of the underlying causes behind a host of maladies.
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