but we didn't know what part of the nervous system was doing this said Jason Kutch corresponding author on a study about the research and an assistant professor in the Division of Biokinesiology & Physical therapy at the USC Ostrow School of dentistry.
Kutch collaborated with colleagues at USC Ostrow the Keck School of medicine of USC and Loma Linda University on the research.
They then used functional magnetic image resonance (fmri) imaging to show that a specific part of the brain (the medial wall of the precentral gyrus--a part of the primary motor cortex) activates both
and brains and all of the hard work going on in the pelvic floor muscles--without us even know it.
The above story is provided based on materials by University of Southern California. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Immune cells in liver drive fatty liver disease, liver cancer Fatty liver disease--alongside fatty liver due to massive alcohol consumption--is caused mainly by excessive consumption of fat
This is referred to as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD. If NAFLD becomes chronic--e g. through the constant uptake of high lipids
This can lead to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)--a liver disease with clear detectable pathologic alteratons of the tissue.
These liver diseases (NAFLD and NASH) along with chronic viral infections are the most common causes of liver cancer or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC.
In the United states HCC is the fastest-growing form of cancer at the moment. No efficient causal therapy exists for HCC patients of which approximately 800000 die every year.
T cells involved in the development of fatty liver disease NASH and HCC The mechanisms that cause diseases such as fatty liver disease steatohepatitis and HCC are still not widely understood.
However immune cells particularly CD8+T cells and NK T cells seem to play an important role.
This finding was made by a team of scientists led by Prof. Mathias Heikenwälder Prof. Matthias Tschöp Dr. Kerstin Stemmer Dr. Kristian Unger Prof.
Achim Weber from Zurich University Hospital and Dr. Monika Wolf Institute of Surgical Pathology University Hospital Zurich.
The animal model which was used to examine the long-term effects of metabolic syndrome*enabled the scientists to elucidate new mechanisms that cause fatty liver disease
and also show how it can develop into liver cancer. Inflammatory events offer starting point for prevention
and trigger an inflammatory response that damages the liver tissue and also destabilizes the metabolic activity of the liver cells.
The inflammation which is triggered by specific immune cells encourages the progression of fatty liver pathology
Our results provide completely new insights into the development of these serious liver diseases. Building on this knowledge we now want to develop new preventive
and therapeutic strategies to combat these diseases. The initial studies are already under way in the preclinical model.*
*Metabolic syndrome: a combination of obesity/abdominal adiposity insulin resistance raise levels of lipids in the blood and raised blood pressure.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Research center for Environmental Health.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#Seniors run for the suburbs in their golden years By 2040 there will be more than three times the number of Americans aged 80+than there were in 2000.
Condo towers crowding city skylines seem to reflect builders'hopes that the grey set will head to urban centres for increased services and better transit options.
But new research from Concordia University suggests that the opposite is more likely to occur.
In a study recently published in the Journal of Transport Geography Zachary Patterson uses census data to map seniors'moving habits.
Patterson who is a professor in Concordia's Department of Geography says that this is an unfortunate trend.
Seniors living in highly automobile dependent suburbs who lose their licenses can suffer a decreased quality of life as a result.
At least if they live in central neighbourhoods with good access to medical services and public transit infrastructure they will not suffer so much from the loss of automobility.
The proof is in the population These findings are based on micro census data pulled from Canada's six largest metropolitan areas:
Patterson and his co-authors focused on data from the long-form censuses done in 1991 1996 2001 and 2006.
seniors are more likely to move to suburbs than to the urban core. In fact in all cities the rate at which seniors are moving to the suburbs appears to be increasing faster than for all other age groups.
because that's where the infrastructure is already in place for a better quality of life for people with limited mobility options says Patterson who holds a Canada Research Chair Transportation and Land use Linkages for Regional Sustainability.
But when you look at actual data rather than anecdotal evidence it's clear that seniors prefer the suburbs.
The issue is important for planning future transportation systems as well as for its implications on the future welfare of the large baby-boom generation now starting to enter retirement.
The above story is provided based on materials by Concordia University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Electric vehicle technology packs more punch in smaller package Using 3-D printing and novel semiconductors researchers at the Department of energy's Oak ridge National Laboratory have created a power inverter that could make electric vehicles lighter more powerful and more efficient.
At the core of this development is wide bandgap material made of silicon carbide with qualities superior to standard semiconductor materials.
Power inverters convert direct current into the alternating current that powers the vehicle. The Oak ridge inverter achieves much higher power density with a significant reduction in weight and volume.
Wide bandgap technology enables devices to perform more efficiently at a greater range of temperatures than conventional semiconductor materials said ORNL's Madhu Chinthavali who led the Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Group on this project.
This is especially useful in a power inverter which is the heart of an electric vehicle. Specific advantages of wide bandgap devices include:
higher inherent reliability; higher overall efficiency; higher frequency operation; higher temperature capability and tolerance; lighter weight enabling more compact systems;
and higher power density. Additive manufacturing helped researchers explore complex geometries increase power densities and reduce weight and waste while building ORNL's 30-kilowatt prototype inverter.
With additive manufacturing complexity is basically free so any shape or grouping of shapes can be imagined
and modeled for performance Chinthavali said. We're very excited about where we see this research headed.
Using additive manufacturing researchers optimized the inverter's heat sink allowing for better heat transfer throughout the unit.
This construction technique allowed them to place lower-temperature components close to the high-temperature devices further reducing the electrical losses and reducing the volume and mass of the package.
Another key to the success is a design that incorporates several small capacitors connected in parallel to ensure better cooling
and lower cost compared to fewer larger and more expensive brick type capacitors. The research group's first prototype a liquid-cooled all-silicon carbide traction drive inverter features 50 percent printed parts.
Initial evaluations confirmed an efficiency of nearly 99 percent surpassing DOE's power electronics target
and setting the stage for building an inverter using entirely additive manufacturing techniques. Building on the success of this prototype researchers are working on an inverter with an even greater percentage of 3-D printed parts that's half the size of inverters in commercially available vehicles.
Chinthavali encouraged by the team's results envisions an inverter with four times the power density of their prototype.
Others involved in this work which was to be presented today at the Second Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications in Knoxville were Curt Ayers Steven Campbell Randy Wiles and Burak Ozpineci.
Research for this project was conducted at ORNL's National Transportation Research center and Manufacturing Demonstration Facility DOE user facilities with funding from DOE's Office of Energy efficiency and Renewable energy.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Oak ridge National Laboratory. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
#Defective gene renders diarrhea vaccine ineffective Acute diarrheal illnesses cause nearly one-fifth of all child deaths in developing countries.
The most common cause is rotavirus. Improved sanitation and hygiene have had limited a effect on the spread of the illness.
Today vaccination is considered the most important method for reducing mortality. Unfortunately several studies have shown that the two available living vaccines Rotarix and Rotateq
which are recommended by bodies including the World health organization are not sufficiently effective in developing countries. In many African countries protection has been as low as 20-50%.
%The current study to be published in the Journal of Clinical Infectious diseases by Johan Nordgren from Professor Lennart Svensson's research group shows that up to four of ten children in Burkina faso are genetically resistant to the virus strains found in the vaccines.
The researchers found that children who can not express a particular sugar molecule in the small intestine called the Lewis molecule do not become infected by the rotavirus types found in existing vaccines.
This Lewis molecule is needed probably as a receptor for the rotavirus to be able to enter
This means that these children do not get the desired immunological protection from the vaccine.
and can greatly impact the evaluation of the rotavirus vaccines now being introduced in several developing countries.
The results could lead to a review of the vaccine composition and the development of vaccines better suited to the populations most affected by rotavirus.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Linköping University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference c
#Discovery of cellular snooze button advances cancer, biofuel research The discovery of a cellular snooze button has allowed a team of Michigan State university scientists to potentially improve biofuel production and offer insight on the early stages
of cancer. The discovery that the protein CHT7 is a likely repressor of cellular quiescence
or resting state is published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
and oil production also wields control of cellular growth--and tumor growth--in humans. Christoph Benning MSU professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and his colleagues unearthed the protein's potential
while seeking ways to improve algae's capacity as a biofuel. Its application in cancer research
however was a surprise finding that is leading Benning's lab in a new direction. Algae provide us with model organisms that rival
and study algae which have the genomic repertoire that make them relevant in their capacity to drive advances in human medicine.
when it's under stress said Chia-Hong Tsai doctoral candidate with MSU's Department of energy Plant Research Laboratory
and Department of Plant Biology and co-author. They go into quiescence to conserve energy and nutrients.
That's when they produce the equivalent of vegetable oil. But to convert them into truly viable biofuel producers we need them to grow
and gives scientists a way to potentially produce high amounts of oil and biomass. In terms of human medicine this discovery gives scientists a promising new model to study tumor suppression and growth.
Because quiescent cells are found in many plants and animals it's a model that can provide important insights into the regulation of cellular behavior in organisms such as us humans in ways that traditional yeast models simply can't replicate.
For cancer research it's a new paradigm Benning said. The switch that tells an organism to grow
That is the first step of tumor growth. Story Source The above story is provided based on materials by Michigan State university.
#Jobs plentiful for college grads The job market for new college graduates is red hot. After several years of modest growth hiring is expected to jump a whopping 16 percent for newly minted degree-holders in 2014-15 according to key findings from Recruiting Trends.
The annual survey by Michigan State university economist Phil Gardner is the nation's largest with nearly 5700 companies responding.
Employers are recruiting new college graduates at levels not seen since the dot-com frenzy of 1999-2000 said Gardner director of MSU's Collegiate Employment Research Institute.
Competition for qualified candidates is escalating to a degree rarely seen in the past 10 years. Most industries report a rapid increase in anticipated hiring led by information services (up 51 percent over last year) and finance and insurance (up 31 percent.
Other growing industries include professional business and scientific services; government; manufacturing; nonprofits; and health services. In addition the market is strong for nearly all types of new degree-holders.
Those with an MBA degree lead the way with an estimated 38 percent spike in hiring followed by doctorate (up 20 percent) associate's (up 19 percent) bachelor's (up 16 percent) and professional (up 8 percent.
Hiring for new master's degree graduates should be stagnant. When all degrees are taken into account hiring is expected to increase 16 percent.
In the past three Recruiting Trend surveys Gardner predicted overall hiring growth of between 2 percent and 4 percent so the latest forecast is a major improvement.
whether the double-digit increase in hiring for college graduates will become the norm or if it's simply a one-year surge before the market settles down to slower yet steady growth.
#Scientists create new protein-based material with some nerve Scientists at the University of California Berkeley have taken proteins from nerve cells
and used them to create a smart material that is extremely sensitive to its environment. This marriage of materials science and biology could give birth to a flexible sensitive coating that is easy and cheap to manufacture in large quantities.
The work to be published Oct 14 in the journal Nature Communications could lead to new types of biological sensors flow valves
and controlled drug release systems the researchers said. Biomedical applications include microfluidic devices that can handle
and process very small volumes of liquid such as samples of saliva or blood for diagnostics.
This work represents a unique convergence of the fields of biomimetic materials biomolecular engineering and synthetic biology said principal investigator Dr. Sanjay Kumar UC Berkeley associate professor of bioengineering.
We created a new class of smart protein-based materials whose structural principles are inspired by networks found in living cells.
Kumar's research team set out to create a biological version of a synthetic coating used in everyday liquid products such as paint
The synthetic coatings are called often polymer brushes because of their bristlelike appearance when attached to the particle surface.
To create the biological equivalent of a polymer brush the researchers turned to neurofilaments pipe cleaner-shaped proteins found in nerve cells.
By acting as tiny cylindrical polymer brushes neurofilaments collectively assemble into a structural network that helps keep one end of the nerve cell propped open
and turned it into a polymer brush by cloning a portion of a gene that encodes one of the neurofilament bristles re-engineering it such that we could attach the resulting protein to surfaces in a precise and oriented way
In biology precision is said critical Kumar. Proteins are synthesized generally with the exact same sequence every time;
the length and biochemical order of the protein sequence affects all of its properties including structure
and the ability to bind to other molecules and catalyze biochemical reactions. This kind of sequence precision is difficult if not impossible to achieve in the laboratory using the tools of chemical synthesis. By harnessing the precision of biology
and letting the bacterial cell do all the work for us we were able to control the exact length and sequence of the bristles of our protein brush.
The researchers showed that the protein brushes could be grafted onto surfaces and that they dramatically expand
The above story is provided based on materials by University of California-Berkeley. The original article was written by Sarah Yang.
Carl Gwinn a professor in UCSB's Department of physics and colleagues have analyzed images collected by the Russian spacecraft Radioastron.
of which was to investigate the scattering of pulsars--the cores of dead stars--by interstellar gas.
I was surprised quite to find that the effect of scattering produced images with small lumps in the overall smooth image explained Gwinn.
In order to better understand the substructure Michael Johnson Gwinn's former graduate student now at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics conducted theoretical research.
Additional observations made using the Very Long Baseline Array--an interferometer consisting of 10 identical antennas distributed across the United states
--and the 100-meter Green Bank Telescope in West virginia showed the presence of lumps in the image of Sagittarius A*.Recent upgrades have increased greatly the sensitivity of these telescopes.
The theory and observations allow us to make statements about the interstellar gas responsible for the scattering
With additional observations we can begin to understand the behavior in this extreme environment. While no scientific team has been able to produce a complete image of the black hole's emission astronomers have drawn inferences about scattering properties from observations at longer wavelengths.
Their work shows that the spectrum of interstellar turbulence is shallow. There are different ways of interpreting observations of the scattering
and we showed that one of them is right and the others are said wrong co-investigator Yuri Kovalev the Radioastron project scientist.
This work is a good example of the synergy between different modern research infrastructures technologies and science ideas.
and confirm the statistics of our sample with more data Gwinn said. We're also interested in looking at shorter wavelengths where we think the emission region may be smaller
The above story is provided based on materials by University of California-Santa barbara. The original article was written by Julie Cohen.
#Beyond LEDS: Brighter, new energy saving flat panel lights based on carbon nanotubes Even as the 2014 Nobel prize in Physics has enshrined light emitting diodes (LEDS) as the single most significant and disruptive energy-efficient lighting solution of today scientists
around the world continue unabated to search for the even-better-bulbs of tomorrow. Enter carbon electronics.
Electronics based on carbon especially carbon nanotubes (CNTS) are emerging as successors to silicon for making semiconductor materials.
And they may enable a new generation of brighter low-power low-cost lighting devices that could challenge the dominance of light-emitting diodes (LEDS) in the future
and help meet society's ever-escalating demand for greener bulbs. Scientists from Tohoku University in Japan have developed a new type of energy-efficient flat light source based on carbon nanotubes with very low power consumption of around 0. 1 Watt for every hour's operation
--about a hundred times lower than that of an LED. In the journal Review of Scientific instruments from AIP publishing the researchers detail the fabrication
and optimization of the device which is based on a phosphor screen and single-walled carbon nanotubes as electrodes in a diode structure.
You can think of it as a field of tungsten filaments shrunk to microscopic proportions. They assembled the device from a mixture liquid containing highly crystalline single-walled carbon nanotubes dispersed in an organic solvent mixed with a soap-like chemical known as a surfactant.
Then they painted the mixture onto the positive electrode or cathode and scratched the surface with sandpaper to form a light panel capable of producing a large stable and homogenous emission current with low energy consumption.
Our simple'diode'panel could obtain high brightness efficiency of 60 Lumen per Watt which holds excellent potential for a lighting device with low power consumption said Norihiro Shimoi the lead researcher and an associate professor of environmental studies at the Tohoku University.
Brightness efficiency tells people how much light is being produced by a lighting source when consuming a unit amount of electric power
which is an important index to compare the energy-efficiency of different lighting devices Shimoi said.
For instance LEDS can produce 100s Lumen per Watt and OLEDS (organic LEDS) around 40. Although the device has a diode-like structure its light-emitting system is not based on a diode system
which are made from layers of semiconductors materials that act like a cross between a conductor and an insulator the electrical properties
of which can be controlled with the addition of impurities called dopants. The new devices have luminescence systems that function more like cathode ray tubes with carbon nanotubes acting as cathodes
and a phosphor screen in a vacuum cavity acting as the anode. Under a strong electric field the cathode emits tight high-speed beams of electrons through its sharp nanotube tips--a phenomenon called field emission.
The electrons then fly through the vacuum in the cavity and hit the phosphor screen into glowing.
We have found that a cathode with highly crystalline single-walled carbon nanotubes and an anode with the improved phosphor screen in our diode structure obtained no flicker field emission current and good brightness homogeneity Shimoi said.
Field emission electron sources catch scientists'attention due to its ability to provide intense electron beams that are about a thousand times denser than conventional thermionic cathode (like filaments in an incandescent light bulb.
That means field emission sources require much less power to operate and produce a much more directional and easily controllable stream of electrons.
In recent years carbon nanotubes have emerged as a promising material of electron field emitters owing to their nanoscale needle shape and extraordinary properties of chemical stability thermal conductivity and mechanical strength.
Highly crystalline single-walled carbon nanotubes (HCSWCNT) have nearly zero defects in the carbon network on the surface Shimoi explained.
The resistance of cathode electrode with highly crystalline single-walled carbon nanotube is very low. Thus the new flat-panel device has compared smaller energy loss with other current lighting devices
which can be used to make energy-efficient cathodes that with low power consumption. Many researchers have attempted to construct light sources with carbon nanotubes as field emitter Shimoi said.
But nobody has developed an equivalent and simpler lighting device. Considering the major step for device manufacture--the wet coating process is a low-cost
but stable process to fabricate large-area and uniformly thin films the flat-plane emission device has the potential to provide a new approach to lighting in people's life style
and reduce carbon dioxide emissions on the earth Shimoi said. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Institute of Physics (AIP.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#Research leads to brain cancer clinical trial Researchers at the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI)
and Southern Alberta Cancer Research Institute (SACRI) have made a discovery that could prolong the life of people living with glioblastoma--the most aggressive type of brain cancer.
Samuel Weiss Phd Professor and Director of the HBI and Research Assistant professor Artee Luchman Phd and colleagues published their work today in Clinical Cancer Research
which is leading researchers to start a human phase I/II clinical trial as early as Spring 2015.
Researchers used tumour cells derived from 100 different glioblastoma patients to test drugs that could target the disease.
When these human brain tumour-initiating cells were inserted into an animal model researchers discovered that when using a drug AZD8055 combined with Temozolomide (TMZ)--a drug already taken by most glioblastoma patients--the life of the animals was extended by 30 per cent.
Shutting off vital tumour growth processes can lead to the death of human brain tumour-initiating cells.
Our research has identified a key process in brain tumour growth that we were able to target with AZD8055 says Luchman from the university's Cumming School of medicine and a member of the HBI.
Researchers used the new therapy to inhibit a pathway in the cancer cells known as mtor signaling--putting the brakes on this pathway combined with the current standard therapy caused more of the cancer cells to die.
Scientists are now working with investigators at the NCIC Clinical Trials Group (NCIC-CTG) to start a Canadian clinical trial that may eventually include glioblastoma patients across the country.
and therapies that can be tested in the clinic provides the greatest hope for brain cancer patients
and their families says Weiss leader of the university's Brain and Mental health strategic research priority.
Glioblastoma is the most common and deadly form of brain cancer among adults. The progression and complexity of the tumours are often difficult to treat.
University of Calgary researchers including Luchman Weiss and Dr. Greg Cairncross--director of SACRI and leader of the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI'Therapeutic Targeting of Glioblastoma research program at the university--are now working with cancer researchers Dr. Warren Mason (Princess
Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto) and Dr. Lesley Seymour (Director of the NCIC Clinical Trials Group's Investigational New Drug Program) and drug manufacturer Astrazeneca to plan a clinical trial testing a similar but newer drug
related to AZD8055 (called AZD2014) in combination with TMZ in patients with glioblastoma. This is an important initiative--to test new drugs being developed for other types of cancers in the laboratory to identify which are most promising for testing in patients with glioblastoma.
NCIC CTG is excited to partner in the development of this clinical trial which will be funded by a grant from the TFRI as well as grants from Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute to NCIC CTG says Seymour r
#Charged graphene gives DNA a stage to perform molecular gymnastics When Illinois researchers set out to investigate a method to control how DNA moves through a tiny sequencing device they did not know they were about to witness a display of molecular gymnastics.
Fast accurate and affordable DNA sequencing is the first step toward personalized medicine. Threading a DNA molecule through a tiny hole called a nanopore in a sheet of graphene allows researchers to read the DNA sequence;
however they have limited control over how fast the DNA moves through the pore. In a new study published in the journal Nature Communications University of Illinois physics professor Aleksei Aksimentiev
and graduate student Manish Shankla applied an electric charge to the graphene sheet hoping that the DNA would react to the charge in a way that would let them control its movement down to each individual link or nucleotide in the DNA chain.
Ideally you would want to step the DNA through the nanopore one nucleotide at a time said Aksimentiev.
Take a measurement and then have another nucleotide in the sensing hole. That's the goal and it hasn't been realized yet.
We show that to some degree we can control the process by charging the graphene.
The researchers found that a positive charge in the graphene speeds up DNA movement through the nanopore
The researchers extensively used the Blue waters supercomputer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications housed at the University of Illinois. They mapped each individual atom in the complex DNA molecule
Supercomputing power was essential to carrying out the work Aksimentiev said. This is a really computationally intensive project he said.
The next step is to combine a charged nanopore setup with a sensor to build a DNA sequencing device that would incorporate both motion control and nucleotide recognition.
The researchers also hope to explore the unexpected conformational changes for insights into epigenetics the field that studies how genes are expressed and moderated.
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