Monthly Archives: October 2019
Oxygen starvation promotes pro-tumorigenic cytokine expression
Identification of the factors that trigger tumor formation and metastasis is a problem that has persisted in cancer research since its inception. To date, studies have focused on chemical signaling compounds that are part of the secretome
Prevalence and prevention of unwanted online sexual encounters among youth
Screens, smartphones, and devices are integral to the lives of young people and provide opportunities for positive social connection, learning, and entertainment. However, existing alongside the many rewards of technology are the risks of a new and
Should we (still) believe in the propagating nerve impulse as a purely electrical process?
Processing and integrating information in networks of discrete nerve cells is fundamental to all neural processes, from sensation to movement to cognition. Nerve cells are functionally polarized, making it imperative for the information to be communicated from
Root nodules of plants grown on salt–affected soils: A useful source for isolating salinity tolerant N2–fixing non–rhizobial bacteria
Salinity is one of the most significant environmental challenges limiting plant productivity, particularly in arid and semi–arid climates. Soil salinity affects about 800 million hectares of arable lands worldwide. Therefore, there is a need to exploit the
Wilms tumor and aneuploidy
Wilms’ tumor or nephroblastoma is an embryological tumor of infancy that belongs to the category of “small round blue cell tumors” (Fig. 1). Such tumors are characterized by an accentuated basophilia of the nuclei with a notable
Heparan sulphate; inspiration for new leishmaniasis drugs
Leishmaniasis is a group of tropical parasitic diseases caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Leishmania and is endemic in 98 countries, with approximately 2 million new cases annually. Infection occurs when someone is bitten by an
Marmosets know the meaning of a food call
Vocalisations that alert group-living animals to a food source play an essential role in survival. Do some species make specific calls for particular types of food (i.e., referential signals) and are these calls produced with the intention
Predicting Ebola outbreaks (while my guitar gently weeps)
Making a living as a rock musician can be hard (unless you are a star!): today your band plays here, tomorrow your band plays there… always on tour playing at clubs to earn some money. Animal migrations
Harbinger of increased prostate cancer risk: The effect of decreased prostate cancer screening
Since the introduction of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a blood test in 1992, the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer increased dramatically. Because PSA detects men who are asymptomatic two things occurred. First, many of the
Discovery of new genes in schizophrenia: the importance of rare diseases in psychiatry
Schizophrenia is a major psychiatric illness affecting one percent of the population worldwide. Patients suffering from schizophrenia present delusions, hallucinations, abnormal behavior, impairment in daily life and cognitive deficits. Current treatments are insufficient in addressing all of
Is the color of museum mammal specimens an acceptable representation of the color of live animals?
Existing collections in Natural History Museums are often the basis of numerous studies in taxonomy, systematics, ecology, biogeography, management, conservation, etc., and studies based on biological museum specimens are to a large degree the basis of our
Stigma undermines prevention programs for the opioid crisis
The World Health Organization and the U.S. Commission on Combatting Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, agree that opioid addiction is an epidemic. In the U.S., the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention framed three approaches to
The power of urine to understand genetic variants in the kidney
Nephronophthisis is a rare genetic disorder of the kidney and the most common genetic cause of end stage kidney failure in children. It can be caused by mutations in more than 20 different genes. In the 50%
The ‘fundamental questions of obesity’: Asked and answered
Scientific progress requires the ability to discover which questions are essential and which are trivial. Yet until recently, there were three fundamental questions that were ignored in nutrition & obesity research: What is the defining characteristic of
On-demand, self-administered fast-dissolving insert for prevention of HIV, HSV, and HPV infections
Microbicides are a potential discreet prevention method for empowering millions of women worldwide to protect themselves against incurable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV, herpes simplex virus (HSV), and human papillomavirus (HPV). For nearly three decades, much
Excessive postprandial VLDL remnants in plasma cause obesity and insulin resistance
Remnant lipoproteins (RLP) are the TG-rich lipoproteins metabolized by lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and increase in plasma after fat intake (Fig. 1), parallel with the increase of plasma triglycerides (TG). We have long thought that RLP in plasma
Are iron oxide nanoparticles neurotoxic?
Among the different types of nanomaterials, iron oxide nanoparticles (ION) awaken a particular interest due to their unique properties, including superparamagnetism and high biocompatibility. These features make them very suitable for a broad variety of uses, mostly
Stevensite: an efficient clay to retain tetracycline from wastewater
The tetracycline family of antibiotics are widely used for human therapy and animal feed. However, tetracycline (TC) is considered a contaminant of emerging concern in the environment due to its presence in wastewater effluents, surface waters and
Pain cognition in migraine
The evolving concept of pain has led to the reformulation of its biological meaning by placing it in a much broader frame. Currently, we look at pain as a multidimensional sensation, aimed not only to the localization
Rigid calibrated tangled clots of laser light
Spreading of light structures during their propagation significantly limits the possible applications of lasers. This seemingly unavoidable property of waves can be “corrected” either in inhomogeneous media, such as optical fibers, or in nonlinear media in which
