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New Study Finds That Even the Cleanest Wastewater Contains ‘Super Bacteria’

By Guest PostNovember 27, 2011Environmentantibiotic resistance genes, antibiotic resistant bacteria, antibiotic use in agriculture, antibiotics, bacterial infections, david tan, duluth, duluth superior harbor, environmental microbiology, global ecology, industrial wastewater discharge, jessica eichmiller, lake superior, mi yan, municipal wastewater, municipal wastewater treatment facility, northeastern minnesota, patrick mcnamara, st louis river, superbacteria, surface waters, timothy lapara, treated municipal wastewater, treatment facility in duluth, tucker burch, university of minnesota

*University of Minnesota research suggests that wastewater treated with standard technologies contains far greater quantities*

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL — A new University of Minnesota study reveals that the release of treated municipal wastewater – even wastewater treated by the highest-quality treatment technology – can have a significant effect on the quantities of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, often referred to as “superbacteria,” in surface waters.

The study also suggests that wastewater treated using standard technologies probably contains far greater quantities of antibiotic-resistant genes, but this likely goes unnoticed because background levels of bacteria are normally much higher than in the water studied in this research. (more…)

MU Researchers Find Synthetic RNA Lessens Severity of Fatal Disease

By Guest PostNovember 27, 2011Healthdisease severity, rare genetic disease, sma, spinal muscular atrophy, synthetic rna

*Spinal Muscular Atrophy affects one in 6,000 children; no known cure*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – A team of University of Missouri researchers have found that targeting a synthetic molecule to a specific gene could help the severity of the disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) – the leading genetic cause of infantile death in the world. (more…)

Earth’s Core Deprived of Oxygen

By Guest PostNovember 27, 2011Sciencecore materials, earth core, liquid outer core, seismic data, shock wave experiment

Washington, D.C. — The composition of the Earth’s core remains a mystery. Scientists know that the liquid outer core consists mainly of iron, but it is believed that small amounts of some other elements are present as well. Oxygen is the most abundant element in the planet, so it is not unreasonable to expect oxygen might be one of the dominant “light elements” in the core. (more…)

Tuning out: How Brains Benefit From Meditation

By Guest PostNovember 26, 2011Health, Sciencealzheimer's disease, anxiety, areas of brain, autism, beta amyloid plaques, brain imaging study, cope with cancer, daydreaming, default mode network, experienced meditators, functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, health problems, hedy kober, how meditation works, jeremy r gray, judson a brewer, medial prefrontal, meditation, meditation techniques, patrick d worhunsky, posterior cingulate cortex, prevent psoriasis, psychiatric disorders, schizophrenia, switch off

Experienced meditators seem to be able switch off areas of the brain associated with daydreaming as well as psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, according to a new brain imaging study by Yale researchers.

Meditation’s ability to help people stay focused on the moment has been associated with increased happiness levels, said Judson A. Brewer, assistant professor of psychiatry and lead author of the study published the week of Nov. 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Understanding how meditation works will aid investigation into a host of diseases, he said. (more…)

Laborers of Love

By Guest PostNovember 26, 2011Sciencehominins, horned owl, injured birds, treatment

Three volunteers who make a difference

A murmur runs through the audience as Bob Kriel withdraws his gloved hand from a darkened cage in the front of a small lecture room. (more…)

Diabetes Drug Shows Promise in Reducing Risk of Cancer

By Guest PostNovember 26, 2011Healthbreast cancer, breast tumor, diabetes associated cancers, diabetes drug, risk of cancer

EAST LANSING, Mich. — An inexpensive drug that treats Type-2 diabetes has been shown to prevent a number of natural and man-made chemicals from stimulating the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a newly published study by a Michigan State University researcher. (more…)

On the Road to Plasmonics with Silver Polyhedral Nanocrystals

By Guest PostNovember 26, 2011Sciencenanocrystal self assembly, plasmonic materials fabrication, plasmonic nanomaterials, plasmonics, polyol synthesis technique, silver polyhedral nanocrystals

Berkeley Lab Researchers Find Simpler Approach to Making Plasmonic Materials

The question of how many polyhedral nanocrystals of silver can be packed into millimeter-sized supercrystals may not be burning on many lips but the answer holds importance for one of today’s hottest new high-tech fields – plasmonics! Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) may have opened the door to a simpler approach for the fabrication of plasmonic materials by inducing polyhedral-shaped silver nanocrystals to self-assemble into three-dimensional supercrystals of the highest possible density. (more…)

Yale Researchers Find Genetic Link Between Heart Disease and Brain Aneurysms

By Guest PostNovember 25, 2011Health, ScienceAli Ozturk, aneurysms, atherosclerosis, blood vessels, brain, bursting blood vessels, cardiovascular disorders, constriction of blood vessels, DNA, elasticity, endothelin receptor, genes, genetic risk factors, heart disease, hypertension, intracranial aneurysms, Katsuhito Yasuno, Kaya Bilguvar, mehmet bakircioglu, murat gunel, Richard Lifton, Shrikant Mane, variant of gene, vasospasm, vessel spasm, vessel tone

Yale School of Medicine researchers have discovered that a variant of a gene linked to heart disease also increases the risk of deadly aneurysms of blood vessels in the brain. The discovery of this link raises hopes for new treatments for intracranial aneurysms, which affect more than a half million people worldwide annually.

“Existing drugs already target this common pathway and, in the future, could help treat or prevent aneurysms in people who are at risk,” said Murat Gunel, professor of neurosurgery, genetics and neurobiology and senior author of the study, published the week of Nov. 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

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