#Slime-producing molecules help spread disease from cats to endangered sea otters The spread of diseases from land animals to sea otters
These large complex molecules form slimy biofilms and bind waterborne organic matter into larger particles in which disease-causing microorganisms can become embedded
First the polymers act like glue binding together waterborne organic material into larger particles in
molecules whose increased presence or absence in tissue suggests the development of tumorous cells. These indicators could help detect colorectal cancer at an early stage predict its severity or even offer new treatments.
but share the same molecules on the cell surface. This may be one reason why research results vary among laboratories
as many complex interactions occur in the cloudlike plume of laser-generated vapor particles. Guan and her team designed a new experimental setup that can quantify
they saw clear evidence of a phase explosion--a mixture of liquid and vaporized particles thrown out by the laser impact.
the team produced'mass-resolved images'that reconstructed the distribution of gaseous secondary ions in the plume.
The mass-resolved images revealed that Mg ions were dispersed evenly at high concentrations inside the plume.
the population of Al ions rises in the middle of the near-field region close to the laser firing point.
and showed that the majority of particles had a diameter of approximately 2. 36 micrometers--small enough to be breathed in.
and promises the ability to position functional biological molecules--such as those involved in taste, smell,
In the study, the researchers used something called Atomic force microscopy (AFM), which is an imaging process that has a resolution down to only a fraction of a nanometer
However, instead of writing with fluid ink, we allow the lipid molecules--the ink--to dry on the tip first.
'which convert the detection of small molecules into electrical signals to stimulate our sense of smell. And many drugs work by targeting specific membrane proteins."
The NIST system does need not a reference artifact to be placed next to the target something typically required for interferometry-based systems.
they have produced a molecule, known as a peptide mimic, that displays a functionally critical region of the virus that is universally conserved in all known species of Ebola.
microrna plays surprising role in cell survival Researchers at the University of California San diego School of medicine have identified a microrna molecule as a surprisingly crucial player in managing cell survival and growth.
The findings published in the October 7 issue of Cell Metabolism underscore the emerging recognition that non-coding RNAS small molecules that are translated not into working proteins help regulate basic cellular processes
With let-7 revealed to be a master regulator of metabolism helping to modulate anabolic growth (the creation of new molecules in cells) with catabolic destruction (the breakdown of molecules in cells) researchers say the overall picture
#Small molecule jams the switch to prevent inflammatory cell death Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists have discovered a small molecule that blocks a form of cell death that triggers inflammation opening the door for potential new treatments for inflammatory disease such as rheumatoid arthritis Crohn's disease
and psoriasis. The researchers made the discovery while investigating how a protein called MLKL kills cells in a process known as necroptosis.
Ms Tanzer said the team tested a range of small molecules to see if any could stop the switching on of MLKL
This small molecule binds to MLKL in such a way that it'jams the switch'that makes it active she said.
Dr Murphy said institute scientists would now embark on a collaborative project with Catalyst Therapeutics to develop a potent new drug based on the small molecule identified in the study.
Researchers found that NAD+a natural molecule found in living cells plants and food protects against autoimmune diseases by altering the immune response and turning destructive cells into protective cells.
The molecule is also able to reverse disease progression by restoring damaged tissue caused by the autoimmunity process.
therefore demonstrating the molecule's protective properties. This is a universal molecule that can potentially treat
not only autoimmune diseases but other acute or chronic conditions such as allergy chronic obstructive pulmonary disease sepsis and immunodeficiency said Stefan G. Tullius MD Phd BWH Chief of Transplant Surgery
+Since this is a natural molecule found in all living cells including our body we hope that it will be tolerated well by patients said Elkhal.
whether a papillary thyroid carcinoma was induced by radiation or had a sporadic origin. With this discovery, scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum München have identified a new biomarker for the diagnosis of the cancer cause.
CLIP2 serves as a radiation marker: After exposure to radiation from radioiodine, both the genetic activity and the protein expression are increased,
as the scientists'studies were able to substantiate. CLIP2 appears to be particularly significant in the development of tumours in the thyroid gland after radiation exposure.
The team around Martin Selmansberger, Dr. Julia Heß, Dr. Kristian Unger and Prof. Dr. Horst Zitzelsberger from the Radiation Cytogenetics Research Unit at the Helmholtz Zentrum München discovered a connection between high CLIP2 levels and the radiation history of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma."
"In our study, we were able to verify radiation-associated CLIP2 expression at the protein level in three different cohorts of patients with thyroid carcinoma,"reports first author Selmansberger.
The research paper was prepared at the Helmholtz Zentrum München in cooperation with the Institute of Radiation Protection and the Analytical Pathology Research Unit.
Radiation marker CLIP2 allows distinction of cancer cause and risk assessment"CLIP2 serves as a radiation marker
and allows us to distinguish between radiation-induced and sporadic thyroid carcinomas, "adds study leader Heß.
In their investigations, the scientists developed a standardized method to determine the CLIP2 biomarker status."This biomarker allows us both to draw conclusions about the mechanisms involved in the development of such tumours
and to evaluate the risk of thyroid cancer after exposure to high level radiation, for instance, following a radiation accident,"reports Heß.
The Helmholtz Zentrum München focuses its work in health research on major widespread diseases. In addition to diabetes and lung diseases, this also includes cancer.
The objective of the Helmholtz Zentrum München is the rapid further development of the results of basic research
but share the same molecules on the cell surface. This may be one reason why research results vary among labs
was conducted by Dr. Eran Perlson and Shani Gluska of TAU's Sackler Faculty of medicine and Sagol School of Neuroscience,
The difference is that its transport is very fast, even faster than that of its endogenous ligand, the small molecules that travel regularly along the neuron and keep the neuron healthy."
and used live cell imaging to track the path taken by the virus particles. The researchers"saw"the virus hijack the"train"transporting cell components along a neuron and drove it straight into the spinal cord.
atom-thick strips of carbon created by splitting nanotubes, a process also invented by the Tour lab
And because the new process creates membranes on silicon surfaces it is a significant step toward creating bio-silicon interfaces where biological sensor molecules can be printed onto cheap silicon chip holding integrated electronic circuits.
because they offer the possibility of containing membrane proteins--biological molecules that could be used for detecting toxins diseases and many other biosensing applications.
Finally they evaporated a phospholipid molecule known as dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) onto the chitosan-covered silicon substrate
localized heating of the molecules leads to a temperature and pressure increase in the gas."
Velásquez-García and his colleagues use a technique called deep reactive-ion etching. On either face of a silicon wafer, they etch dense arrays of tiny rectangular columns tens of micrometers across
the researchers are able to directly observe individual atoms at the interface of two surfaces
By changing the spacing of atoms on one surface, they observed a point at which friction disappears.
Vladan Vuletic, the Lester Wolfe Professor of Physics at MIT, says the ability to tune friction would be helpful in developing nanomachines tiny robots built from components the size of single molecules.
and an ion crystal. The optical lattice was generated using two laser beams traveling in opposite directions,
When atoms travel across such an electric field, they are drawn to places of minimum potential in this case, the troughs.
an ion crystal essentially, a grid of charged atoms in order to study friction effects, atom by atom.
To generate the ion crystal, the group used light to ionize, or charge, neutral ytterbium atoms emerging from a small heated oven,
and then cooled them down with more laser light to just above absolute zero. The charged atoms can then be trapped using voltages applied to nearby metallic surfaces.
Once positively charged, each atom repels each other via the so-called oulomb force. The repulsion effectively keeps the atoms apart,
so that they form a crystal or latticelike surface. The team then used the same forces that are used to trap the atoms to push
and pull the ion crystal across the lattice, as well as to stretch and squeeze the ion crystal,
much like an accordion, altering the spacing between its atoms. An earthquake and a caterpillarin general, the researchers found that
when atoms in the ion crystal were spaced regularly, at intervals that matched the spacing of the optical lattice, the two surfaces experienced maximum friction,
much like two complementary Lego bricks. The team observed that when atoms are spaced so that each occupies a trough in the optical lattice,
when the ion crystal as a whole is dragged across the optical lattice, the atoms first tend to stick in the lattice troughs,
bound there by their preference for the lower electric potential, as well as by the Coulomb forces that keep the atoms apart.
If enough force is applied, the ion crystal suddenly slips, as the atoms collectively jump to the next trough. t like an earthquake,
Vuletic says. here force building up, and then there suddenly a catastrophic release of energy. he group continued to stretch
and squeeze the ion crystal to manipulate the arrangement of atoms, and discovered that if the atom spacing is mismatched from that of the optical lattice,
friction between the two surfaces vanishes. In this case the crystal tends not to stick then suddenly slip,
but to move fluidly across the optical lattice, much like a caterpillar inching across the ground.
For instance, in arrangements where some atoms are in troughs while others are at peaks, and still others are somewhere in between,
as the ion crystal is pulled across the optical lattice, one atom may slide down a peak a bit,
releasing a bit of stress, and making it easier for a second atom to climb out of a trough
which in turn pulls a third atom along, and so on. hat we can do is adjust at will the distance between the atoms to either be matched to the optical lattice for maximum friction,
or mismatched for no friction, Vuletic says. Gangloff adds that the group technique may be useful
not only for realizing nanomachines, but also for controlling proteins, molecules, and other biological components. n the biological domain, there are various molecules
and atoms in contact with one another, sliding along like biomolecular motors, as a result of friction or lack of friction, Gangloff says. o this intuition for how to arrange atoms so as to minimize
or maximize friction could be applied. obias Schaetz, a professor of physics at the University of Freiburg in Germany, sees the results as a lear breakthroughin gaining insight into therwise inaccessible fundamental physics.
The technique he says, may be applied to a number of areas, from the nanoscale to the macroscale. he applications and related impact of their novel method propels a huge variety of research fields investigating effects relevant from raft tectonics down to biological systems
and motor proteins, says Schaetz, who was involved not in the research. ust imagine a nanomachine where we could control friction to enhance contact for traction,
or mitigate drag on demand. his work was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Publication: Alexei Bylinskii, et al. uning friction atom-by-atom in an ion-crystal simulator, Science 5 june 2015:
Vol. 348 no. 6239 pp. 1115-1118; DOI: 10.1126/science. 1261422source: Jennifer Chu, MIT Newsimage:
Christine Daniloff/MIT and Alexei Bylinkski e
#Engineers Develop a Computer That Operates on Water Researchers at Stanford university have developed a synchronous computer that operates using the unique physics of moving water droplets.
#Half Price Lithium-ion Batteries With Improved Performance and Recyclability MIT spinoff company 24m has reinvented the manufacturing process for lithium-ion batteries to reduce cost,
An advanced manufacturing approach for lithium-ion batteries, developed by researchers at MIT and at a spinoff company called 24m,
The existing process for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries, he says, has changed hardly in the two decades
In this so-called low battery, the electrodes are suspensions of tiny particles carried by a liquid
it is composed of a similar semisolid, colloidal suspension of particles. Chiang and Carter refer to this as a emisolid battery. impler manufacturing processthis approach greatly simplifies manufacturing,
while a flow battery system is appropriate for battery chemistries with a low energy density (those that can only store a limited amount of energy for a given weight),
for high-energy density devices such as lithium-ion batteries, the extra complexity and components of a flow system would add unnecessary extra cost.
e realized that a better way to make use of this flowable electrode technology was to reinvent the lithium ion manufacturing process. nstead of the standard method of applying liquid coatings to a roll of backing material,
Having the electrode in the form of tiny suspended particles instead of consolidated slabs greatly reduces the path length for charged particles as they move through the material a property known as ortuosity.
While conventional lithium-ion batteries are composed of brittle electrodes that can crack under stress the new formulation produces battery cells that can be bent,
With traditional lithium-ion production plants must be built at large scale from the beginning in order to keep down unit costs,
and go-no go decisions. iswanathan adds that 24m new battery design ould do the same sort of disruption to lithium ion batteries manufacturing as
#Breakthrough Technique Accurately Detects the andednessof Molecules A new technique that can determine whether a molecule is present in a left
-or right-handed form may have a multitude of practical applications, potentially leading to new and improved drugs, diagnosis methods, and pesticides.
reliably and simultaneously identify the andednessof different molecules in a mixture. The research, led by chemists at The University of Nottingham and the VU University Amsterdam,
whether a molecule is present in a left-or right-handed form. The breakthrough could be important in developing effective molecules for use in a wide range of industries everything from the development of safer new drugs and disease diagnosis to less toxic pesticides.
Many molecules exist in forms which are essentially identical, apart from being exact mirror images of one another.
It is common for these so-called chiral molecules to exist in just one form in biological systems,
although scientists still don fully understand why. For example, although both forms of amino acid molecules the building blocks of life itself can be made in the laboratory,
in nature they only occur in the left-handed form. The chirality of these biomolecules also strongly affects the way in
which they interact with other molecules, for instance with chiral drugs. Presently, more than 50 per cent of all drugs produced are active in only one of their two handed forms.
Similarly, it is hard to shake with your right hand someone else left hand it the same with molecules interacting.
If you have a left-handed molecule it will have a preference for whether it interacts with a left-or right-handed molecule.
Handedness is significant because it can affect the properties and function of otherwise identical molecules,
the impact of which can be large enough to be detectable by the human body. A classic example is the hundreds of molecule pairs in
which the left-and right-handed forms smell completely different. The molecule limonene used as a citrus fragrance
and de-greaser in a wide variety of household cleaning products is well-known for its ability to smell of either oranges
or lemons depending on the handedness of the particular form of the molecule. In pharmaceuticals, handedness can be crucial
because one form of a molecule can be associated with an effective result while the other can lead to associated (severe) side effects,
called circular dichroism, involves exposing the molecules to circularly polarised light and detecting the difference between how the molecules absorb the light.
But the distinguishing effects are weak tiny fractions of a per cent so the technique struggles to approach the sensitivity of the human nose.
The latest research demonstrates a rapid new technique that can be used to identify the handedness of chiral molecules with more tangible effects and a greater degree of accuracy.
Mass-Selected Photoelectron Circular Dichroism (MS-PECD) uses circularly polarised light produced by a laser to ionise the molecules using a couple of photons to knock an electron out of the chiral molecule to leave a positively charged ion behind.
By tracking the direction that the electrons take when they travel out of the molecule
either forwards or backwards along the laser beam it is possible to distinguish between left and right handed molecules with an accuracy of up to several tens of per cent rather than a fraction of a per cent.
Wide range of applications This is combined with a mass spectrometry experiment in which a small electrical potential is applied to the negatively charged electron and positively charged ion
which draws them out in opposite directions. The scientists look for simultaneous detection of the ion and electron those reaching the detectors simultaneously are very likely to have come from the same molecule.
The mass of the ion can be measured and matched with its partner electron. By combining these methods,
it is possible to identify both the handedness of individual molecules and the proportion of left-and right-handed molecules in a mixture.
The scientists can use gas-based samples rather than high concentrations in solution and the technique is much more detailed by looking at energies involved scientists can see many other things about the molecule,
not only whether it is left or right-handed but the shape which the molecule has taken and whether it interacts with other molecules.
The technique could have a wide range of applications In addition to the development of effective new drugs and diagnosis methods for diseases including cancer,
it could potentially lead to new reenpesticides using pheromones tailored specifically to attract pollinators or to repel destructive insects.
Chiral molecules are emitted also by some plants and trees when under stress and detectors to identify concentrations in air samples could be used to monitor our changing ecology.
While in the food industry, the technique could allow companies to refine the flavours of the food
and drinks that we consume. The research, Enantiomer Specific Analysis of Multi-Component Mixtures by Correlated Electron Imaging-Ion Mass Spectrometry
was funded by the Division of Chemical sciences of The netherlands Organisation for Scientific research, with further European support from LASERLAB-EUROPE and the Marie Curie Initial Training Network ICONIC t
astronomers have discovered the important dust-forming molecule Si-C-Si (disilicon carbide) in space. The space between stars is not empty it contains a vast reservoir of diffuse material with about 5-10%of the total mass of our Milky way galaxy.
They are essential to the chemistry that takes place in the interstellar medium by providing gas molecules with a surface on
which to react with other molecules. They absorb ultraviolet and optical light, re-emitting the energy as infrared light,
such seeds might be molecules like Tio, VO, Zro, C 2, CN, or C 3, species that have been known for a hundred years;
Because the carbon monoxide (CO) molecule is extremely stable, it uses up nearly all of the carbon
The dust forms from nucleation seeds that grow as molecules condense onto it via numerous steps that are still quite mysterious,
One likely seed is predicted to be the molecule Si-C-Si (disilicon carbide), but it had never been identified in space.
Analogous molecules have been found, like Si-C-C (Sic 2), and both Sic molecules and grains are known,
and so the search for disilicon carbide has been underway for several decades. Now Cfa astronomers Mike Mccarthy, Carl Gottlieb, Nimesh Patel, N. Reilly,
which was already well-known for hosting a rich family of carbon-bearing molecules. The observations of disilicon carbide are in good (though not perfect) agreement with the chemical model expectations
The molecule is roughly ten times less abundant in this source as is its cousin, Sic 2. These two molecules are thought to be the most abundant silicon-carbon species in the dust-forming part of the stellar environment,
and they surely play a key role in making dust grains. Publication: J. Cernicharo, et al.?
#MIT Chemists Develop a Quantum dot Spectrometer Researchers from MIT have designed a quantum dot spectrometer that is small enough to function within a smartphone, enabling portable light analysis. Instruments that measure the properties of light,
known as spectrometers, are used widely in physical, chemical, and biological research. These devices are usually too large to be portable,
but MIT scientists have shown now they can create spectrometers small enough to fit inside a smartphone camera,
a former MIT postdoc and the lead author of a paper describing the quantum dot spectrometers in the July 2 issue of Nature.
which have been used primarily for labeling cells and biological molecules, as well as in computer and television screens. sing quantum dots for spectrometers is such a straightforward application compared to everything else that wee tried to do,
and I think that very appealing, says Moungi Bawendi, the Lester Wolfe Professor of Chemistry at MIT and the paper senior author.
Shrinking spectrometers The earliest spectrometers consisted of prisms that separate light into its constituent wavelengths
Spectrometers are used in a wide variety of applications, such as studying atomic processes and energy levels in physics,
Replacing that bulky optical equipment with quantum dots allowed the MIT team to shrink spectrometers to about the size of a U s. quarter,
which rely on the dotsability to convert light into electrons. However, this phenomenon is understood not well,
Broad spectrum The new quantum dot spectrometer deploys hundreds of quantum dot materials that each filter a specific set of wavelengths of light.
The researchers created an algorithm that analyzes the percentage of photons absorbed by each filter,
With more dots, such spectrometers could be designed to cover an even wider range of light frequencies. awendi
and Bao showed a beautiful way to exploit the controlled optical absorption of semiconductor quantum dots for miniature spectrometers.
They demonstrate a spectrometer that is not only small, but also with high throughput and high spectral resolution, which has never been achieved before,
this type of spectrometer could be used to diagnose skin conditions or analyze urine samples, Bao says.
which vary greatly in their ability to damage skin. he central component of such spectrometers the quantum dot filter array is fabricated with solution-based processing and printing,
Jie Bao & Moungi G. Bawendi, colloidal quantum dot spectrometer, Nature 523,670 (02 july 2015; doi: 10.1038/nature1457 e
and an associate professor of medicine in the division of hematology and oncology at the David Geffen School of medicine at UCLA. Kitchen and his colleagues were the first to report the use of an engineered molecule called a chimeric antigen receptor,
#CERN Reports Observation of Pentaquark Particles Physicists at CERN Large hadron collider have reported the discovery of a class of particles known as pentaquarks. he pentaquark is not just any new particle,
said LHCB spokesperson Guy Wilkinson. t represents a way to aggregate quarks, namely the fundamental constituents of ordinary protons and neutrons,
the protons and neutrons from which wee all made, is constituted. Our understanding of the structure of matter was revolutionized in 1964 when American physicist
Murray Gell-Mann, proposed that a category of particles known as baryons, which includes protons and neutrons, are comprised of three fractionally charged objects called quarks,
and that another category, mesons, are formed of quark-antiquark pairs. Gell-Mann was awarded the Nobel prize in physics for this work in 1969.
This quark model also allows the existence of other quark composite states, such as pentaquarks composed of four quarks and an antiquark.
Until now, however, no conclusive evidence for pentaquarks had been seen. LHCB researchers looked for pentaquark states by examining the decay of a baryon known as?
b (Lambda b) into three other particles, A j/?(/-J-psi), a proton and a charged kaon.
Studying the spectrum of masses of the J/?/and the proton revealed that intermediate states were involved sometimes in their production.
These have been named Pc (4450)+ and Pc (4380), +the former being clearly visible as a peak in the data,
with the latter being required to describe the data fully. enefiting from the large data set provided by the LHC,
and the excellent precision of our detector, we have examined all possibilities for these signals, and conclude that they can only be explained by pentaquark states says LHCB physicist Tomasz Skwarnicki of Syracuse University. ore precisely the states must be formed of two up quarks,
one down quark, one charm quark and one anti-charm quark. Earlier experiments that have searched for pentaquarks have proved inconclusive.
Where the LHCB experiment differs is that it has been able to look for pentaquarks from many perspectives,
with all pointing to the same conclusion. It as if the previous searches were looking for silhouettes in the dark,
The next step in the analysis will be to study how the quarks are bound together within the pentaquarks. he quarks could be tightly bound
r they could be loosely bound in a sort of meson-baryon molecule, in which the meson and baryon feel a residual strong force similar to the one binding protons and neutrons to form nuclei.
More studies will be needed to distinguish between these possibilities, and to see what else pentaquarks can teach us.
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
Copyright Semantic-Knowledge, 1994-2011