Monthly Archives: November 2017
Rifaximin for irritable bowel syndrome treatment
Irritable bowel syndrome is generally known as IBS. It is one of the most commonly diagnosed gastrointestinal (GI) disorders which affects about 20% of the adult US population. It is more common in women than men. Physicians
Social Entrepreneurship – applying the scientific method to solving social problems
“The business of doing good” reviews the new textbook “Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship,” a guide for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to use a data-driven approach to making a difference. Based on a course at Harvard, this book
Dinitrosyl iron complexes – natural medicinal form of NO
Everybody knows nitroglycerin – vessel-relaxing medicine effective against angina pectoris. It is a drug working as NO donor – one of the whole family of drugs used to widen our vessels and thus decrease blood pressure. Interestingly,
A dual specificity protein phosphatase and redox homeostasis in plants
Man has been struggling to understand and define life since the day he became aware of it. Innumerable philosophies and findings over the history of mankind together draw the perspective with which we look at life today.
How to optimize pneumonia treatment for the elderly
Can you tell the age of this patient with pneumonia by looking at her chest X-ray (Fig. 1)? Neither can the germ infecting her. And yet there are unique aspects of treatment to know if the patient
Excess weight reduction in primary school students
Childhood obesity is a global public health problem related to many preventable diseases, alarmingly on the increase. Iran is no exception. In an effort to address this problem, we designed and tested an intervention to combat excess
Mindless monitoring: When does attention help or hurt our emotional health
When it comes to anxiety and depression, a long-standing assumption is that there is something off about one’s ability to effectively focus and attend to present moment situations. Prominent theories in clinical psychology propose that anxiety causes
Mechanistic analysis of antimicrobial peptide membrane interactions by molecular dynamics simulation
The world emergence of the bacterial superbugs has limited the effectiveness of the available antibiotics in the clinic. Because of the multifaceted antimicrobial mechanism of actions, cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) may be considered as promising molecules to
Understanding how liposome composition and manufacturing affect docetaxel encapsulation and cell killing
Docetaxel (DTX) belongs to a class of anticancer drugs clinically used to treat a plethora of cancers, including breast and prostate cancer. DTX works by interfering with the cell cycle and blocking cell proliferation. Although being a
A culturally adapted lifestyle intervention among Middle-Eastern immigrants in Sweden
In Sweden, there is an increasing immigrant population of which a large proportion originate from the Middle East. Middle East is one of the areas with highest diabetes prevalence in the world. Middle-Eastern immigrants in Sweden have
Bioinformatics at the cutting EDGE: Empowering the Development of Genomics Expertise
An in-depth understanding of how microorganisms function is required to address many challenging issues facing society today such as understanding how to eradicate infectious diseases and mitigate climate change. Answers are held in their genetic code. Advancements
Is ecotype difference in switchgrass a reflection of photosynthetic efficiency?
Switchgrass, a warm season perennial grass native to the North American Prairie, is a potential cellulosic feedstock for biofuel production in the United States. Using switchgrass for bioenergy production is environmentally friendly and economically feasible. It is
Children and their parent’s terminal illness: The role of doctors and nurses
The diagnosis of a terminal illness is a stressful event. However, when patients have dependent children (children under the age of 18 years) there are additional anxieties, uncertainties and stressors. A concern for parents is about how
SLiMming the fuzz in gene-regulating interactomes
Organisms depend on strict regulation of their genes for proper cellular function. This regulation is mediated by large protein interaction networks – the so-called interactomes. By analogy to the World Wide Web, interactomes display a scale-free architecture
Gamma irradiation on canola seeds and crop-insects interactions
Plant breeding by gamma irradiation is one of the most important anthropogenic forces that influences ecosystem function and structure. It has been reported that gamma irradiation can affect the morphology, anatomy, biochemistry and physiology of plants that
Urea is truly toxic: the empire strikes back
Urea is a metabolic waste product that accumulates in the body in the setting of chronic kidney disease. It is routinely measured on blood tests as a marker of kidney function (higher urea levels indicate lower kidney
Divorce can be good for health in traditional societies such as China
China has achieved impressive economic growth during the last three decades due to rapid industrialization that has been facilitated by “Special Economic Zones”. In addition, internal migration of over 150 million workers from rural to urban areas
A novel regulator for the generation of muscle stem cells
The skeletal muscle is the largest organ in human body and plays a key role in locomotion and systemic energy homeostasis. Muscle dystrophy and atrophy often leads to frailty and fatality, underscoring the importance for maintaining proper
Molecular players behind sunflower architecture: differential transcription of two genes
During plant embryogenesis the primary axis of development is established by two groups of pluripotent cells: the shoot apical meristem ( SAM ), responsible for aboveground organs generation, and the root apical meristem (RAM), responsible for underground
