Monthly Archives: January 2017
Staphylococcus pseudintermedius infection: a downside to man’s best friend?
Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is a bacteria identified in the past decade that is increasingly recognized to cause infections in people. S. pseudintermedius colonizes ~90% of healthy dogs, and the common sites are the pharynx, nares, rectum, and skin.
Nanoscale engineering of heterostructured anode materials for boosting lithium ion storage
Rechargeable lithium ion batteries (LIBs), as one of the most important electrochemical energy storage devices, currently provide the dominant power source for a range of devices including portable electronic devices and electric vehicles due to their high
Gamete activation: what else?
Fertilization is the complex and unique process that marks the creation of a new individual. Mutual activation of gametes is a crucial event during fertilization where the two metabolically quiescent cells, upon a reciprocal signal, undergo structural
‘HATs On’: A small molecule with big potential in epigenetic therapy for Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common, progressive and age-related neurodegenerative disease, whose incidence is set to double by 2030 as people are living longer. At present, it is estimated that ten million people worldwide suffer with PD.
What’s your move? The ecological influence of personality-dependent space-use patterns in animals
In ecology we often try to answer questions about the processes that determine population dynamics, and interactions between individuals within or between species (e.g., competition for resources and predator – prey dynamics, respectively). The way animals move
Nanoparticle can directly permeate across cell membrane without membrane disruption
Nanoparticles (NPs) have been attracting much attention for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. In most of the applications, NPs are required to translocate across the cell membrane and to reach the cell cytosol. Experimental studies have reported that
TSPO, bond of ages
In the microbic world of about 3.5 billion years ago, unicellular eukaryotes (organisms with cell nuclei) started to form a symbiosis with prokaryotes (organisms without cell nuclei). These prokaryotes were bacteria that could breath oxygen, whereas the
Holding the last line of defence against malaria
Malaria contributed to the deaths of almost half a million people worldwide in 2015. This disease mainly affects people in the developing countries and imposes a serious health and financial burden. Artemisinin (ART)-based combination therapy is the
Control of plant architecture by gravity
Plants are permanently tethered to the soil and thus, unlike animals, they cannot physically escape from harmful situations. Instead, they have evolved mechanisms to adapt their growth to an ever-changing environment. A simple example of this phenomenon,
A new role of neutrophils in the promotion of experimental abdominal aortic aneurysm
Neutrophils are the most abundant type of white blood cells in the human body and account for approximately 60% of all cells circulating in the bloodstream. They are the first cells recruited in response to an infection and constitute
Estimating occupational exposures in large general populations made easier
In occupational epidemiology we are interested in associations between exposures that occur in the workplace and detrimental health effects. Ultimately with the goal of preventing harmful exposures to continue. Simply comparing exposed workers with non-exposed workers will
MutS, a guardian of the DNA replication fidelity
Spontaneous mutations act as engines to drive evolution; and lead to the development of antibiotic resistance by pathogenic bacteria and the initiation of human diseases. An important source of mutations corresponds to biosynthetic errors generated during replication
The flipside of cystic fibrosis protein transport
Deficiency of ATP8B1 in humans causes severe progressive liver disease that is characterized by impaired bile flow. Besides liver disease, many ATP8B1 disease patients develop extrahepatic symptoms of yet unknown etiology such as pulmonary infection and defects
Why narcoleptic mice exhibit faster recovery from sickness behavior?
Hypocretin/ataxin-3 mice (which are postnatally depleted of hypothalamic hypocretin neurons) were administered LPS. As a result, hypocretin/ataxin-3 mice were increased in sleep compared with wild-type littermates and showed faster recovery from sickness behaviour. We examined changes in
