One of astronomy's big questions is why galaxies forming as recently as 1 billion years after the Big Bang contain so much dust. The leading hypothesis is that supernovae, stars that explode at the end of their lives, contain large amounts of metal-enriched material that, in turn, harbors key ingredients of dust, like silicon, iron and carbon.
A new analytical technique is helping scientists learn how organisms as simple as seaweed can mount complex chemical defenses to protect themselves from microbial threats such as fungus. Known as desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS), the technique for the first time allows researchers to study unique chemical activity taking place on the surfaces of these organisms.
Nicotinic acid is one of the most effective drugs for raising levels of "good" cholesterol and lowering levels of "bad" cholesterol and other lipids (fats), thereby reducing the risk of heart attack. However, patients often stop taking the drug due to one specific side effect, flushing of the skin that often includes an intense burning and itching sensation. A way to separate the beneficial effects of nicotinic acid from the flushing response has now been elucidated in mice by Robert Lefkowitz and colleagues, at Duke University Medical Center, Durham.
EDITOR'S PICK: Separating the beneficial effects of a drug from the adverse side effects
Nicotinic acid is one of the most effective drugs for raising levels of "good" cholesterol and lowering levels of "bad" cholesterol and other lipids (fats), thereby reducing the risk of heart attack. However, patients often stop taking the drug due to one specific side effect, flushing of the skin that often includes an intense burning and itching sensation. A way to separate the beneficial effects of nicotinic acid from the flushing response has now been elucidated in mice by Robert Lefkowitz and colleagues, at Duke University Medical Center, Durham.
STANFORD, Calif. - The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the ambitious U.S. government program begun in 2003, has cut the death toll from HIV/AIDS through 2007 by more than 10 percent in targeted countries in Africa, though it has had no appreciable effect on prevalence of the disease in those nations, according to a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine that is the first to evaluate these outcomes.
Wanted: stems cells. Just like those absconders chased by police all over the world, everybody can tell about their good deeds but none really knows how to recognize them. Yet, as of today, thanks to a study just published in the Proceedings of the National Accademy of Sciences (PNAS) and authored by Nobel Laureate for Medicine in 2007 Mario Capecchi and by the researcher from the Catholic University of Rome Eugenio Sangiorgi, we now know how to reveal the stem cells camouflaged in the pancreas.
A stem cell is a cell capable of generating all the other cells constituting the same tissue (sometimes also called "adult stem cell").
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 6, 2009 – AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company leveraging breakthrough discoveries in cancer biology to discover, develop and commercialize targeted oncology therapies, today announced findings from its novel human-in-mouse (HIM) cancer model system, in which AVEO successfully created invasive human tumors from primary human breast tissue that develop over time in mice and mimic human tumor behaviors and response. The findings were published this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Young adults with a genetic variant that raises their risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease show changes in their brain activity decades before any symptoms might arise, according to a new brain imaging study by scientists from the University of Oxford and Imperial College London. The results may support the idea that the brain's memory function may gradually wear itself out in those who go on to develop Alzheimer's.
University of British Columbia scientists have traced the fragrant scent of grapevine flowers to pollen grains stored in the anthers, contrary to common perception that petals alone produce perfume.
While studying grapes used to produce Cabernet Sauvignon from the Okanagan region of British Columbia, researchers from UBC's Wine Research Centre and Michael Smith Laboratories identified a gene that produces and regulates fragrance from the vines' tiny clusters of green blossoms.
"This was a surprise in fundamental plant biology," says Joerg Bohlmann, a Distinguished University Scholar and professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories who directed the study. "This discovery gives us strong clues to the origin and evolution of fragrant flowers."
LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 6, 2009) – The side effects of an experimental "gene-silencing" treatment that is currently being investigated for a variety of diseases are even more wide-ranging than previously discovered, according to a study by a University of Kentucky researcher.
Following up on groundbreaking research published last year in the journal Nature, Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati, a UK ophthalmologist , and his colleagues found that the new drug modality, siRNA (21-nucleotide small-interfering RNA), is toxic not only to blood endothelial cells, which line blood vessels, but also to the cells lining the lymphatic channels.
HOUSTON - Brief stress management sessions prior to and immediately after surgery may have both short- and long-term benefit for men undergoing a radical prostatectomy for early-stage prostate cancer, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
The study, in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, is the first to examine the benefits of psychosocial intervention for prostate cancer patients prior to surgery. It found that men who participated in the sessions experienced less short-term mood disturbance and better long-term quality of life, compared to patients who had the procedure but did not have any behavioral intervention.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A new study shows both obesity and a large belly appear to increase the risk of developing restless legs syndrome (RLS), a common sleep disorder characterized by an irresistible urge to move your legs. The research is published in the April 7, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
It is estimated that 5-10 percent of adults in the United States have RLS and the disorder often has a substantial impact on sleep, daily activities and quality of life.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Obesity is twice as common in young American Indian/Native Alaskan children as it is in white and Asian children, according to new research offering the first nationally representative analysis of obesity prevalence among preschool-aged kids in five major racial/ethnic groups.
The analysis also shows that obesity prevalence is higher in Hispanic and black children than it is in whites and Asians.
The research offers evidence that obesity prevalence differs among racial and ethnic groups in the United States in children as young as age 4. This is the first study to include national estimates of obesity prevalence among preschool children who are American Indian/Native Alaskan and Asian.
