Stanford, CA—Transport proteins are responsible for moving materials such as nutrients and metabolic products through a cell's outer membrane, which seals and protects all living cells, to the cell's interior. These transported molecules include sugars, which can be used to fuel growth or to respond to chemical signals of activity or stress outside of the cell. Measuring the activity of transporter proteins in a living organism has been a challenge for scientists, because the methods are difficult, often require the use of radioactive tracers, and are difficult to use in ...

STANFORD, Calif. —An existing FDA-approved drug improves cognitive function in a mouse model of Down syndrome, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The drug, an asthma medication called formoterol, strengthened nerve connections in the hippocampus, a brain center used for spatial navigation, paying attention and forming new memories, the study said. It also improved contextual learning, in which the brain integrates spatial and sensory information. Both hippocampal function and contextual learning, which are impaired ...

More people die from heart-disease during the winter months, and according to a new study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, the increase in mortality is possibly due to the accelerated growth of atherosclerotic plaque in the blood vessels caused by the activation of brown fat by the cold. It has long been known that the number of deaths from cardiovascular diseases increases during the winter. It has been speculated that this might be the result of over-exertion while shovelling snow and a general decrease in physical activity, although the underlying mechanisms ...

VIDEO: This animation shows the Earth's plasmasphere -- the innermost part of our planet's magnetosphere -- and the plasmaspheric wind, an outward flow of charged particles. The doughnut-shaped plasmasphere is centred... Click here for more information. A new study provides the first conclusive proof of the existence of a space wind first proposed theoretically over 20 years ago. By analysing data from the European Space Agency's Cluster spacecraft, researcher Iannis Dandouras ...

Electron transfer is a process by which an atom donates an electron to another atom. It is the foundation of all chemical reactions, and is of intense research because of the implications it has for chemistry and biology. When two molecules interact, electron transfer takes place in a few quadrillionths (10-15¬) of a second, or femtoseconds (fsec), meaning that studying this event requires very time-sensitive techniques like ultrafast spectroscopy. However, the transfer itself is often influenced by the solution in which the molecules are studied (e.g. water), and this ...

A spinal cord injury changes the functional state and structure of the spinal cord and the brain. For example, the patients' ability to walk or move their hands can become restricted. How quickly such degenerative changes develop, however, has remained a mystery until now. The assumption was that it took years for patients with a spinal cord injury to also display anatomical changes in the spinal cord and brain above the injury site. For the first time, researchers from the University of Zurich and the Uniklinik Balgrist, along with English colleagues from University College ...

COLLEGE PARK, MD - A tiny protein called ubiquitin – so named because it is present in every cell of living things as dissimilar as hollyhocks and humans - may hold the key to treatment for a variety of diseases from Parkinson's to diabetes. The protein, found in all eukaryotes (organisms with membranous cells), was considered unimportant when it was described in 1975. But scientists now know ubiquitin takes many different forms and is important in basic cellular processes, from controlling cells' circadian clocks to clearing away the harmful build-up of cells found in ...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Researchers have pinpointed the role of a gene known as Arl13b in guiding the formation and proper placement of neurons in the early stages of brain development. Mutations in the gene could help explain brain malformations often seen in neurodevelopmental disorders. The research, led by a team at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, was published June 30 in the journal Nature Neuroscience. "We wanted to get a better sense of how the cerebral cortex is constructed," said senior study author Eva Anton, PhD, a professor in the Department ...

Sanfilippo Syndrome type A, or Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA (MPSIIIA), is a neurodegenerative disease caused by mutations in the gene that encodes the enzyme sulfamidase. Mutations in this gene lead to deficiencies in the production of the enzyme, which is essential for the breakdown of substances known as glycosaminoglicans. If these substances are not broken down, they accumulate in the cells and cause neuroinflammation and organ dysfunction, mainly in the brain, but also in other parts of the body. Children born with this mutation are diagnosed from the age of 4 or ...

Scientists at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG) in Berlin (Germany) have discovered a molecular network in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) that integrates cell communication signals to keep the cell in its stem cell state. These findings were reported in the June 2013 issue of Molecular Cell. Human embryonic stem cells have the remarkable property that they can form all human cell types. Scientists around the world study these cells to be able to use them for medical applications in the future. ...

To convert a gene into a protein, a cell first crafts a blueprint out of RNA. One of the main players in this process has been identified by researchers led by Dr. Jessica Jacobs at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. The team "fished" a large complex of proteins and RNA, which is involved in the so-called splicing, from the chloroplasts of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This cuts non-coding regions out of the messenger RNA, which contains the protein blueprint. "For the first time, we have established the exact composition of an unknown splicing complex of the chloroplasts", ...

As the outermost layer of skin, epidermis is crucial in forming a permeability barrier and protection against various environmental agents. Thus, investigating the biology of its most important cell type, the keratinocyte, is key to understanding the effects of solar ultraviolet radiation in skin, and helps design effective means of protection against excessive exposure. It has already previously been shown with both cell culture and in vivo animal models that UV irradiation increases the expression of hyaluronan, which is an important carbohydrate of the extracellular ...

A study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery has provided the first evidence that the shape of a person's knee could be a factor in the decision of whether a patient should undergo anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction after an ACL tear. The study is published online ahead of print in the Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineering. "This is the first study to show that after your ACL is ruptured, the changes in the mechanics of the knee can really be affected by the shape of the knee," said Suzanne Maher, Ph.D., associate director of ...

The antibiotic fidaxomicin (trade name: Dificlir) has been approved in Germany since December 2011 for the treatment of adults who have diarrhoea caused by Clostridium difficile. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined the added benefit of fidaxomicin in comparison with current standard therapy. According to this, there is currently no proof of an added benefit. The manufacturer did not submit any studies on non-severe ...

Abiraterone acetate (abiraterone for short, trade name: Zytiga) has been approved in Germany since December 2012 for men with metastatic prostate cancer that is not responsive to hormone blockade, who only have mild symptoms or so far none at all, and in whom chemotherapy is not yet indicated. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined whether abiraterone offers an added benefit compared with the present standard therapy. ...

New research results from Uppsala University, Sweden, show that the key to treating neurodegenerative prion diseases such as mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease may lie in the ribosome, the protein synthesis machinery of the cell. The results were recently published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative diseases caused by misfolding of prion proteins. Examples of prion diseases are scrapie in sheep, mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in human. What triggers misfolding of the prion proteins to the amyloid ...

Employers are increasingly using Facebook to screen job applicants and weed out candidates they think have undesirable traits. But a new study from North Carolina State University shows that those companies may have a fundamental misunderstanding of online behavior and, as a result, may be eliminating desirable job candidates. Researchers tested 175 study participants to measure the personality traits that companies look for in job candidates, including conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion. The participants were then surveyed on their Facebook behavior, allowing ...

The ability to predict corn yields would benefit farmers as they plan the sale of their crops and biofuel industries as they plan their operations. A new study published in the July-August issue of Agronomy Journal describes a robust model that uses easily obtained measurements, such as plant morphology and precipitation, collected specifically at the silking growth stage of the plant. The new model could help both growers and industry maximize their profits and efficiency. Forecasting crop yield can be extremely useful for farmers. If they have an idea of the amount ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass -- Cloud computing -- outsourcing computational tasks over the Internet -- could give home-computer users unprecedented processing power and let small companies launch sophisticated Web services without building massive server farms. But it also raises privacy concerns. A bank of cloud servers could be running applications for 1,000 customers at once; unbeknownst to the hosting service, one of those applications might have no purpose other than spying on the other 999. Encryption could make cloud servers more secure. Only when the data is actually being ...

Humor is an intrinsic part of human experience. It plays a role in every aspect of human existence, from day-to-day conversation to television shows. Yet little research has been conducted to date on the psychological function of humor. In human psychology, awareness of the impermanence of life is just as prevalent as humor. According to the Terror Management Theory, knowledge of one's own impermanence creates potentially disruptive existential anxiety, which the individual brings under control with two coping mechanisms, or anxiety buffers: rigid adherence to dominant ...

The logistics were impressive, the timeframe tight, the conditions tough. From 26 May to 7 June 2013, nearly 150 experts from 40 countries set up shop on a military training ground near Veszprém, Hungary, for a simulated search for evidence of a nuclear explosion. Fifteen trucks transported 120 tons of state-of-the-art equipment from the CTBTO's Vienna storage facility to the site, where a fully functioning base of operations was established. Welcome to the world of on-site inspections (OSI). An OSI, a Treaty-specified search of the suspect area to determine if ...

Winning sounds on slot machines make gambling more exciting, according to a new study by Mike Dixon and colleagues from the University of Waterloo in Canada. Moreover, their work shows that sounds also cause players to overestimate the number of times they won while playing on slot machines. The study is published online in Springer's Journal of Gambling Studies. Sound has always been an integral part of the slot machine playing experience. Since the early 1900s, players have been rewarded with a ringing bell every time they have a winning combination. Today's slot machines ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Some may assume that low-income residents of run-down, crime-ridden neighborhoods do not care about their communities. However, research from the University of Missouri suggests otherwise. Mansoo Yu, an assistant professor of social work and public health at MU, studied levels of community care and vigilance among residents living in high-crime, low-income areas. Community care and vigilance refer to individuals' desires to improve their communities, to take pride in their neighborhoods and to monitor and report unwelcome happenings, such as crimes, near ...

BOSTON – July 1, 2013 -- Joslin scientists report that salsalate, a drug used to treat arthritis, lowers blood glucose and improves glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. These findings, which were published today by the Annals of Internal Medicine, provide additional evidence that salsalate may be an effective drug to treat type 2 diabetes. The scientists became interested in studying salsalate, an anti-inflammatory drug, after research conducted by Steven Shoelson, M.D., Ph.D., Head of the Section on Pathophysiology and Molecular Pharmacology and Professor of Medicine ...

Cancer cells have alteration in metabolic pathways as a result of oncogenes that promote tumor growth. NRF2 (nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-related factor 2) works as a "master gene" that turns on stress response by increasing numerous antioxidants and pollutant-detoxifying genes to protect the lungs from variety of air pollutants such as diesel exhaust and cigarette smoke. However, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and others have found for the first time that NRF2 signaling also plays a role in the growth of tumor cells by altering ...