Researchers were interested in using mice without the FAT10 gene to study its role in sepsis
a devastating and sometimes fatal inflammatory response to infection. FAT10 belongs to a family of genes that act as recyclers of cellular proteins
Since older mice and humans are more susceptible to sepsis, some mice were left to age.
The immune system response that produces inflammation is crucial in warding off infections. hus it has short-term beneficial effects on survival
#Math that predicts glucose paves way for artificial pancreas A mathematical model can predict with more than 90 percent accuracy the blood glucose levels of individuals with type 1 diabetes up to 30 minutes before a change in levels. any people
with type 1 diabetes use continuous glucose monitors, which examine the fluid underneath the skin,
The team tested the accuracy of its model using an FDA-approved UVA/Padova simulator with 30 virtual patients and five living patients with type 1 diabetes.
The results appeared online in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology. DYNAMIC DEPENDENCIES e learned that the dynamic dependencies of blood glucose on insulin dose
if chemo kills liver cancer New 3d scans of liver cancer quickly show if chemotherapy is working,
precisely measuring living and dying tumor tissue, researchers report. The findings are the first roof of principlethat 3d MRI technology accurately measures tumor viability and death.
Researchers hope to prove that the technology, when used before and after chemotherapy, is faster and better than current tools for predicting patient survival.
Liver cancer kills nearly 20,000 Americans each year, and is much more prevalent outside the United states,
where it is among the top-three causes of cancer death in the world. ur high-precision 3d images of tumors provide better information to patients about
whether chemoembolization has started to kill their tumors so that physicians can make more well-informed treatment recommendations,
A series of studies involved 140 patients with either primary liver cancers or metastatic tumors that were caused by cancers spreading from elsewhere in the body.
chemotherapy aimed directly at a tumor. Dead and live tissue Unlike standard methods to assess tumor response, based on two-dimensional images and tumor size,
the 3d technology distinguishes between dead and live tissue, giving an accurate assessment of tumor cell death.
The new technology builds on standard two-dimensional imaging and uses computer analytics to evaluate the amount of so-called contrast dye absorbed by tumor tissue.
The dye is injected into patients before their MRI scan to enhance image production. Researchers say live tissue will absorb more dye than dead tissue, affecting image brightness,
Geschwind, a professor of radiology, says that knowing the true extent of tumor response to chemoembolization is particularly important for patients with moderate to advanced disease,
whose liver tumors might initially be too large or too numerous to surgically remove. In the first study, researchers compared the standard imaging method and the newly developed technology in 17 Baltimore men and women with advanced liver cancer.
All were treated with surgery or liver transplantation after chemoembolization. Low error margin The research team used existing MR analysis techniques
as well as the new 3d method, to compare the radiologistsanalyses with pathologic review of tumor samples after therapy and surgical removal.
when predicting the amount of dead tumor tissue found by pathologists. The standard 2d method deviated by as much as 40 percent from actual values.
In a series of additional studies, researchers used the standard and new imaging techniques to analyze the MRI scans of more than 300 liver tumors in some 123 other men and women
and each received pre-and post-chemoembolization MRI scans to assess the effects of therapy on the tumors.
such as labeling targets outside the bloodstream, detecting tumors, and monitoring the gastrointestinal system. To create the nanoscale organisms,
and scientific research were included in the study such as agricultural pests vectors of disease and pollinators. This study provides a foundation for future study of insects.
Copsin belongs to the group of defensins a class of small proteins produced by many organisms to combat microorganisms that cause disease.
The human body also produces defensins to protect itself against infections. They have been found for example on the skin and in the mucous membranes.
This is because copsin kills many pathogens including Listeria a type of bacteria that can cause severe food poisoning
Diets rich in fruit and vegetables have been linked to important health outcomes including reductions in cardiovascular disease type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer.
and has been shown to cause cancer. ecause biochar can be produced from various waste biomass including agricultural residues this new technology provides an alternative and cost-effective way for arsenic removalsays Bin Gao associate professor of agricultural
If cancer markers are found in a cell the circuit could for example activate a cellular suicide program.
Healthy cells without cancer markers would remain unaffected by this process. Biocomputers differ significantly from their counterparts made of silicon
These visualization tools are prototypes of probes that could some day help researchers better understand the ion channel dysfunctions that lead to epilepsy cardiac arrhythmias
For example the Kv2. 1 channel that this probe binds to leads to epilepsy when it s not functioning properly. n addition the ability to better observe electrical signaling could help researchers map the brain at its most basic levels. nderstanding the molecular
#Algae cell switch also controls tumor growth Original Studyposted by Layne Cameron-Michigan State on October 15 2014 Scientists have discovered that a protein called CHT7 is a likely repressor of cellular quiescence
and oil production also wields control of cellular growth and tumor growth in humans. Christoph Benning professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Michigan State university and his colleagues unearthed the protein's potential
Its application in cancer research however was a surprise finding that is leading Benning's lab in a new direction. lgae provide us with model organisms that rival
In terms of human medicine this discovery gives scientists a promising new model to study tumor suppression and growth.
and grow uncontrollably that's exactly what we want to understandsays Benning. hat is the first step of tumor growth. he study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences h
#Plants can t run from stress, but they can adapt Scientists have discoveredâ a key molecular cog in a plant s biological clock.
This discovery may have implications for understanding neural circuit dysfunctions that underlie autism in humans. Humans with autism often show a reduced frequency of social interactions
and an increased tendency to engage in repetitive solitary behaviors. Autism has also been linked to dysfunction of the amygdala a brain structure involved in processing emotions.
This discovery which is like a eesaw circuitwas led by postdoctoral scholar Weizhe Hong in the laboratory of David J. Anderson biology professor at Caltech and an investigator with the Howard hughes medical institute.
and his colleagues say may have some relevance to human behavioral disorders such as autism. n autismanderson says here is a decrease in social interactions
and promoting these perseverative persistent behaviors. tudies from other laboratories have shown that disruptions in genes implicated in autism show a similar decrease in social interaction and increase in repetitive
but if you found the right population of neurons it might be possible to override the genetic component of a behavioral disorder like autism by just changing the activity of the circuits#tipping the balance of the seesaw in the other directionhe says.
#o-seeums harbor virus that makes cows sick A virus that causes a serious disease in cows
In the United states alone the disease costs the cattle and sheep industry an estimate $125 million annually. y conducting this epidemiological study on a commercial dairy farm in Northern California we were able to demonstrate that the virus overwinters
and we hope for eventually developing controls for the diseasesays coauthor James Maclachlan veterinary professor and viral disease expert.
Bluetongue disease first identified during the 1800s in southern Africa is transmitted by the Culicoides biting midge a tiny gnat sometimes referred to as a o-seeum. he disease mostly sickens sheep
The disease doesn t pose a threat to human health. The name bluetongue derives from the swollen lips and tongue of affected sheep
which may turn blue in the late stages of the disease. The virus that causes bluetongue was isolated first
There was no sign of infection in the dairy cattle being studied. The researchers concluded that those long-lived female midges had been infected with the bluetongue virus during the previous warm-weather season.
which can run for years without needing to be wound manually. The new system works like this:
Understanding how the brain s activity can be lexedduring learning could eventually be used to develop better treatments for stroke and other brain injuries.
what diseases and when additional booster shots are needed. The new electronic registry system will help overcome the lack and loss of information
#X-rays show live changes in cystic fibrosis New X-ray technology is allowing doctors to see almost instantly
if treatments for cystic fibrosis are working. Cystic fibrosis affects many of the body s systems but most severely the lungs and currently it can take several months to measure how effective treatment is for the early-fatal lung disease.
Lead researcher Kaye Morgan from Monash University says the imaging method allows doctors to look at soft tissue structures for example the brain airways
and lungs which are effectively invisible in conventional x-ray images. At the moment we typically need to wait for a cystic fibrosis treatment to have an effect on lung health measured by either a lung CT SCAN
or breath measurement to see how effective that treatment is Morgan says. However the new imaging method allows us for the first time to non-invasively see how the treatment is working live on the airway surface.
and help better treat people with cystic fibrosis Morgan says. The new imaging method which was developed using a synchrotron x-ray source may also open up possibilities in assessing how effective treatments were for other lung heart and brain diseases.
The research appears in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Source: Monash University You are free to share this article under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noderivs 3. 0 Unported license e
One common problem for example is presbyopia a type of farsightedness in which the ability to focus on nearby objects is diminished gradually as the aging eyes lenses lose elasticity.
which was developed at UC Berkeley works by adjusting the intensity of each direction of light that emanates from a single pixel in an image based upon a user s specific visual impairment.
The lasers travel long distances and identify dangerous materials present within powders that commonly act as carriers for explosive nitrates and lethal biological agents such as anthrax and ricin.
but could offer insight into human ailments such as strokes migraines and possibly Alzheimer s and Parkinson s diseases.
Some of the most damaging brain diseases can be traced to irregular blood delivery in the brain.
For now though the technique provides a new technique for studying human cerebral-vascular diseases such as stroke and migraines in animal models.
and Parkinson s diseases might elicit #or be caused in part by#changes in blood flow to certain parts of the brain.
NIR-IIA imaging might offer a means of better understanding the role of healthy vasculature in those diseases Hong says. e could also label different neuron types in the brain with biomarkers
#Wearable vapor sensor can smell diabetes University of Michigan rightoriginal Studyposted by Catharine June-U. Michigan on August 6 2014.
A wearable vapor sensor could monitor diseases such as diabetes and hypertension by picking up airborne biomarkers exhaled
or released through the skin. ach of these diseases has its own biomarkers that the device would be able to sensesays Sherman Fan professor of biomedical engineering at University of Michigan
. or diabetes acetone is a marker for example. ther biomarkers it could detect include nitric oxide and oxygen abnormal levels
of which can point to conditions such as high blood pressure anemia or lung disease. Fan is developing the sensor with Zhaohui Zhong an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and Girish Kulkarni a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering.
The device is faster smaller and more reliable than its counterparts which today are too big to wear.
Beyond disease monitoring the sensor has other applications. It would be able to register the presence of hazardous chemical leaks in a lab
or a human tumor biopsy#e have to slice the tissue very thin separately image each slice with a microscope
or sparse cell populations such as stem cells or tumor cellsshe says. The new approach builds off a technique known as CLARITY that was developed previously by Gradinaru
The Cell paper focuses on the use of PACT and PARS as research tools for studying disease and development in research organisms.
Using the techniques on a biopsy from a human skin tumor the researchers were able to view the distribution of individual tumor cells within a tissue mass.
#obbit skull points To down syndrome, not new species New analysis of a 15000-year-old skull and thigh bone shows the original descriptions of the remains may have been skewed.
Instead of the abnormalities marking a new species the bones more likely indicate Down syndrome researchers say.
and according to the researchers contains important features most consistent with a diagnosis of Down syndrome. he skeletal sample from Liang Bua cave contains fragmentary remains of several individualseckhardt says.
and the revised figure falls in the range predicted for a modern human with Down syndrome from the same geographic regioneckhardt says.
But humans with Down syndrome also have diagnostically short thighbones Eckhardt says. Though these and other features are acknowledged unusual he nusual does not equal unique.
Down syndrome one of the most commonly occurring developmental disorders in modern humans. hen we first saw these bones several of us immediately spotted a developmental disturbancesays Eckhardt ut we did not assign a specific diagnosis
Over the years several lines of evidence have converged on Down syndrome. he first indicator is craniofacial asymmetry a left-right mismatch of the skull that is characteristic of this and other disorders.
Here too the brain size they estimate is within the range expected for an Australomelanesian human with Down syndrome.
LB1 s short thighbones not only match the height reduction seen in Down syndrome Eckhardt says but when corrected statistically for normal growth they would yield a stature of about 1. 26 meters
and not in the other Liang Bua skeletal remains further evidence of LB1 s abnormality. his work is presented not in the form of a fanciful story
Here the signs point rather clearly To down syndrome which occurs in more than one per thousand human births around the world. e
and more resistant to environmental stress in West african environments than Asian varieties Wing says. African rice already has been crossed with Asian rice to produce new varieties under a group known as NERICA which stands for New Rice for Africa.
because many of the genes code for traits that make African rice resistant to environmental stress such as long periods of drought high salinity in the soils
One example would be adding disease resistance genes from all of the wild rice varieties to a species of cultivated rice creating a new super-crop that is resistant to diseases and pests.
which is used now in the medical field to detect biomarkers in the early stages of disease.
The findings show promise for people suffering from posttraumatic stress and other mental anguish, says Gale Lucas, a social psychologist at University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies.
#How a missile detector can stop malaria in its tracks Scientists have found a new use for an antitank Javelin missile detector:
published in the journal Analyst, could set a new gold standard for malaria testing. MISSILES AND PARASITES The heat-seeking detector,
a test that can catch malaria at its early stages is critical. ur test detects malaria at its very early stages,
so that doctors can stop the disease in its tracks before it takes hold and kills.
We believe this sets the gold standard for malaria testing, Wood says. here are some excellent tests that diagnose malaria.
However, the sensitivity is limited and the best methods require hours of input from skilled microscopists,
and that a problem in developing countries where malaria is most prevalent, he adds. FOUR-MINUTE COUNT DOWN As well as being highly sensitive,
The disease, which is caused by the malaria parasite, kills 1. 2 million people every year. Existing tests look for the parasite in a blood sample.
However the parasites can be difficult to detect in the early stages of infection. As a result the disease is spotted often only when the parasites have developed
and multiplied in the body. Professor Leann Tilley from the University of Melbourne says the test could make an impact in large-scale screening of malaria parasite carriers who do not present the classic fever-type symptoms associated with the disease. n many countries only
people who display signs of malaria are treated. But the problem with this approach is that some people don have typical flu-like symptoms associated with malaria,
and this means a reservoir of parasites persists that can reemerge and spread very quickly within a community,
she says. ur test works because it can detect the malaria parasite at the very early stages
They then assessed the colonies for visual signs of illness and related the illness data with the presence
or absence of parasites or viruses. In the Newfoundland colonies the researchers found the parasite Nosema apis a species that has been displaced by Nosema ceranae elsewhere
and the pathogens black queen cell virus and deformed wing virus. espite the presence of these parasites and pathogens colony losses in Newfoundland are very lowâ##similar to the mortality rates reported in the United states
The team found that the Newfoundland bees which were suffered otherwise healthy from K-wing a descriptive condition of the asymmetrical positioning of the wings that previously was known not to be associated with any identifiable pathogen.
and co-infection in the same bee is common. ccording to Ostiguy the team will continue to investigate the relationships between various pathogens
and pathogens of honey bees. n addition to Ostiguy researchers from Acadia University Forestry and Agrifoods Agency Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Agriculture and Agrifood Canada Dalhousie University and University
cancer therapies, and nutritional diagnostics. The new method also has the potential to enhance our national security.
when diabetics, wounded veterans, or older people are prone to lose their sight. The Braille studies will be presented in Seattle this September at the 18th International Symposium on Wearable computers (ISWC.
and pathogens that can have an environmental impact if not properly managed. While turning the manure into clean water makes environmental sense
which social information processing is disruptedâ##like autism spectrum disorderâ ##and may lead to new strategies for improving social cognition in several psychiatric disorders.
which is disrupted in disorders such as autism. Additionally this study is remarkable for its evolutionary aspect.
which was funded by grants from the US National institute of mental health and the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs as well as the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation and National Alliance for Autism Research.
#Rapid TB test could be ready in 18 months A new rapid tuberculosis test shortens diagnosis time on one of the world s deadliest diseases from several weeks to a few hours.
The disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria attacks the lungs or other organs and is spread through the air when an individual with active form of TB coughs or sneezes.
One in ten cases progress to the active disease which presents symptoms such as a chronic cough coughing up bloody sputum (mucus) fever night sweats and weight loss.
If left untreatedâ##a common scenario in developing countries lacking the infrastructure or resources to efficiently screen and follow up with infected patientsâ##a person with active TB has only a 50 percent chance of survival.
TB a profound advance in point-of-care diagnosis of the disease. e ve identified a fluorescence substrate that reacts with the bacteriacirillo says. his gives us a very sensitive signal that wouldn t be possible otherwise. nce sputum samples
It has not been previously possible to target a specific TB enzyme as a diagnostic for this disease.
Potential implications of the methodology for human health include for example learning how an infection-induced fever could affect the RNA structures of both humans and pathogens.
or in any living organism. emperature and drought are among the environmental stress factors that affect the structure of RNA molecules thereby influencing how genes are xpressedhow their functions are turned turned on
and caused some severe sunburns. The team estimated that about three-quarters of the meteoroid evaporated at that point.
The object broke up 30 kilometers up under the enormous stress of entering the atmosphere at high speed.
and disease-resistant stocks of honey beesnino says. The Department of agriculture and the United states-Israel Binational Science Foundation supported this research
they seem to be a computational unit as well. is team plans to explore what this newly discovered dendritic role may play in brain circuitry and particularly in conditions like Timothy syndrome in
A demonstrated neural firing-rate set point opens up a whole new approach to thinking about neurological disorders such as epilepsy in
which the brain is excited too and autism in which the brain is excited not enough. f we can figure out how these set points are built we may be able to adjust them
For example sophisticated vintners use precise irrigation to put regulated water stress on grapevines to create just the right grape composition for a premium cabernet or a chardonnay wine.
he complex Rddm machinery is composed of several proteins that guide the genome in response to growth developmental and stress signals.
so I was just hysterical saying â##Look at these!''n the future Gregg says scientists could hunt for land-based lava pillars near oceans to learn about the height of ancient seas
In medicine such networks could serve as martdrug deliverers or disease detectors at the cellular level.
These could be embedded in a cell then programmed to detect abnormalities and respond as needed perhaps by delivering drugs directly to those cells.
and found the arthquakesonly within a narrow temperature range that simulates conditions where the real earthquakes occur in Earth. sing synchrotron X-rays to aid our observations we found that fractures nucleate at the onset of the olivine to spinel transitiongreen says. urther these fractures propagate dynamically
and spread diseases such as the ongoing outbreak of Cryptococcus in Canada and the Pacific Northwest of the United states. Though some might disagree most biologists think the purpose of sex is to create diversity among offspring.
The fungi Cryptococcus neoformans is a global pathogen that primarily infects individuals with compromised immune systems such as HIV/AIDS patients.
It causes more than 600000 deaths a year from cryptococcal pneumonia and meningoencephalitis accounting for a third of all AIDS-related deaths.
because it is the only way this fungal pathogen can produce spores to infect its host.
Aneuploidy is well known to be deleterious in humans causing genetic disorders like Down s syndrome or trisomy 21. But having an extra chromosome can actually be beneficial in microbes like Cryptococcus where it has been shown to confer drug resistance to the antifungal fluconazole.
Dantusâ##initial spark came from a collaboration with Harvard university that developed a laser that could be used to detect cancer
and to fire up a response to a pathogen attack. The gene product they discovered breaks down salicylic acid effectively silencing the molecular command to die.
Plants use an expedited hypersensitive process to thwart pathogens by sacrificing infected cells to protect the surrounding healthy tissues.
which could help breeders decision-making Better understanding of genomic imprinting may offer insights into several human diseases.
Mistakes in imprinting genes can impair development spurring genetic problems that can cause gigantism dwarfism neurological failures incomplete sexual development and others.
Leaf rust is a fungal disease that could destroy almost a third of the nation s barley crop,
The discovery will enable selective breeding of barley that will provide genetic protection to the disease.
Hickey says the crop disease could also leave Australian beer drinkers thirsty because the country's primary use of barley was to make beer as well as stock feed.
He says his research also shows that the Rph20 gene had resistance to powdery mildew another devastating barley disease.
These findings may pave the way for new methodologies for understanding anxiety and other emotions as well as substances that alter them.
Ethanol has been shown to influence anxiety-related responses in humans rodents and some species of fish.
and his collaborators conducted two traditional anxiety tests and evaluated whether the results obtained therein were sensitive to ethanol administration.
and the results of the other anxiety tests and the data support that#Porfiri explains.#
The stem rust disease is producing large wheat yield losses throughout Africa and Asia and threatening global food security.
By transferring this gene to commercial wheat varieties wheat breeders will have a distinct advantage in controlling the epidemic the researchers say.
#A new race of a wheat disease called stem rust Ug99 has been spreading over large distances
Previous resistance genes that had proven effective for fighting the disease for 50 years are ineffective against this new race.
They then inserted the gene into a wheat variety that is susceptible to the diseases engineering a resistance to Ug99.#
#This discovery opens the door for biotechnological approaches to fight this devastating disease#says Eduard Akhunov an associate professor at Kansas State university and co-director of the project.
The challenge now is to identify which combination of resistance genes can deliver a more durable resistance against the disease.
Additional researchers from UC Davis Department of Plant sciences the USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory and Kansas State university also contributed to the study.
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