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UF Study Shows Tundra Fires Could Accelerate Climate Warming

By Guest PostJuly 31, 2011Environmentanaktuvuk river fire, arctic carbon cycle, arctic fires, arctic tundra, atmosphere, atmospheric carbon dioxide, canada, carbon, city of miami, ecologist, ecosystem ecology, global climate, global climate warming, greenhouse gases, michelle mack, Nature, north slope of alaska brooks range, organic matter, permafrost, radiocarbon dating, russia, smoke, soil bound carbon, ted schuur, terry chapin, tundra, university of alaska, university of florida, wildfires

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After a 10,000-year absence, wildfires have returned to the Arctic tundra, and a University of Florida study shows that their impact could extend far beyond the areas blackened by flames.

In a study published in the July 28 issue of the journal Nature, UF ecologist Michelle Mack and a team of scientists including fellow UF ecologist Ted Schuur quantified the amount of soil-bound carbon released into the atmosphere in the 2007 Anaktuvuk River fire, which covered more than 400 square miles on the North Slope of Alaska’s Brooks Range. The 2.1 million metric tons of carbon released in the fire — roughly twice the amount of greenhouse gases put out by the city of Miami in a year — is significant enough to suggest that Arctic fires could impact the global climate, said Mack, an associate professor of ecosystem ecology in UF’s department of biology. (more…)

Largest-Ever Map of Interactions of Plant Proteins Produced

By Guest PostJuly 31, 2011Scienceagriculture, arabidopsis, arabidopsis interactome mapping consortium, arabidopsis network map, arabidopsis thaliana, crop plants, interactome, joseph ecker, map of protein interactions, model organism for biological studies of plants, model plant, mustard plant, national science foundation, pharmaceuticals, plant growth and disease resistance, protein to protein, salk institute

*New map of protein interactions in model plant may help scientists improve plant species used in agriculture and pharmaceuticals*

An international consortium of scientists has produced the first systematic network map of interactions that occur between proteins in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. (Arabidopsis is a mustard plant that has 27,000 proteins and serves as a popular model organism for biological studies of plants, analogous to lab rats that serve as popular model organisms for biological studies of animals.)

Known as an “interactome,” the new Arabidopsis network map defines 6,205 protein-to-protein Arabidopsis interactions involving 2,774 individual proteins. By itself, this map doubles the volume of data on protein interactions in plants that is currently available. (more…)

Unexpected Discovery on Hormone Secretion

By Guest PostJuly 31, 2011Healthhormone producing organs, hormone secretion, pituitary cells, pituitary gland

A team of geneticists at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), directed by Dr. Jacques Drouin, made an unexpected discovery on hormone secretion. Contrary to common belief, the researchers found that pituitary cells are organized in structured networks. The scientific breakthrough was published yesterday by the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Dr. Drouin is a full professor in the Department of Biochemistry (accreditation in molecular biology) at the Université de Montréal. (more…)

One Tiny Electron Could be Key to Future Drugs That Repair Sunburn

By Guest PostJuly 30, 2011Scienceatoms in the dna molecule, aziz sancar, biological functions, cancer, cells of plants, chuang tan, cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer, cyclobutane ring, damaged dna, dongping zhong, electron, enzyme, enzyme photolyase, genetic mutations, key biological molecules, ohio state, ohio state university, proteins, repair of sunburn, source of energy, sun damaged dna, ultraviolet light, zheyun liu

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers who have been working for nearly a decade to piece together the process by which an enzyme repairs sun-damaged DNA have finally witnessed the entire process in full detail in the laboratory.

What they saw contradicts fundamental notions of how key biological molecules break up during the repair of sunburn – and that knowledge could someday lead to drugs or even lotions that could heal sunburn in humans. (more…)

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Advanced Imaging Lab Assists in Location of Thunder Bay Shipwrecks

By Guest PostJuly 30, 2011Environment, Scienceadvanced imaging and visualization lab, aivl, bill lange, evan kovacs, expedition, exploration of historic wrecks, lake huron, marine archaeologists, national oceanic and atmospheric association, noaa, project shiphunt, remotely operated vehicles, rov, shipwrecks, sony 3d hd stereoscopic imaging systems, sony vaio computers, steel freighter etruria, the brittanic, the interseas explorer, the laurentian, the schooner m f merrick, the titanic, thunder bay wrecks, underwater led and hid lighting systems, uss arizona, woods hole oceanographic institution

When a group of five high school students embarked on Project Shiphunt, an expedition in search of lost shipwrecks, in May in Lake Huron, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Advanced Imaging and Visualization Lab (AIVL) was there, surveying and capturing 3D footage of the finds. The work was conducted as part of Project Shiphunt, an initiative developed by Sony and Intel Corp and led by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

“It was gratifying to be a part of a project that engages kids in the excitement of exploration and discovery,” said Bill Lange, director of AIVL. Lange led a crew of videographers, divers and pilots of two remotely operated vehicles (ROV) during the expedition. “Our Sony cameras gave the students the ability to have that experience in real time and in some cases to direct the cameras to investigate specific features of the wreck. The high-definition footage we collected will be invaluable to scientists and marine archaeologists working to learn from the wrecks.” (more…)

UK Mobile Retail Access via Smartphone Grew 163 Percent in Past Year

By Guest PostJuly 29, 2011Technologyapp access for mobile, benchmarks, Comscore, eu5 region, european markets, france, Germany, italy, jeremy copp, mobile devices in europe, mobile subscribers, online retail sites, smartphone ownership, smartphone users, spain, uk

*Mobile Browsers, Rather than Apps, Drive Access to Mobile Retail Activities Across EU5*

LONDON, UK, 29th July, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service showing that 13.5 million users across the five leading European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK), accounting for 5.8 percent of all mobile subscribers, accessed online retail sites in the three month average period ending May 2011. In the EU5 region, the number of smartphone users accessing online retail sites has increased by 80 percent over the past year. This growth is even stronger in the UK, with a 163-percent increase in smartphone users accessing retail sites since May 2010. (more…)

MU Study Pairs Military Veterans and Shelter Dogs to Ease Transition Home for Veterans; Train Shelter Dogs To Be More Adoptable

By Guest PostJuly 29, 2011Healtha better world for pets, banfield charitable trust, combat related issues, eunice shriver kennedy, joe simpson, mars petcare, pedigree foundation, post traumatic stress disorder, ptsd, ptsd service dogs, rebecca johnson, springfield, the waltham foundation, tiddly, united states service members, university of missouri, veterans, wars in iraq and afghanistan

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Of the 2 million United States Service members that have been in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s estimated that up to 50 percent experience combat-related issues ranging from substance abuse to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Now, a University of Missouri professor is conducting a unique study that will give military veterans a “training buddy” to help them cope while helping shelter dogs become more adoptable. The Central Missouri Humane Society is supplying the dogs involved in the study.

The University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine’s Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI) has been supported and funded through a series of grants from Mars Petcare (the WALTHAM Foundation, PEDIGREE Foundation and Banfield Charitable Trust) and the MU Research Board, to conduct a study of the mutual benefit of veterans training shelter dogs. Researchers hope this partnership between man and animal will make the dogs better family members and assist the veterans’ adjustment after returning home. (more…)

Alibaba Group, Yahoo!, and SoftBank Reach Agreement on Alipay

By Guest PostJuly 29, 2011Technologyalibaba group, alibaba group chairman, alipay, Carol Bartz, China, china internet business, financial performance, future ipo, jack ma, joseph tsai, masayoshi son, risk factors, sec, securities and exchange commission, softbank, taobao, Yahoo, yahoo ceo, yahoo quarterly report

*Alibaba Group will Participate in the Ongoing Value of Alipay*

HONG KONG & TOKYO & SUNNYVALE, Calif.-– Alibaba Group, Yahoo!, and SoftBank today announced they have reached an agreement in which Alibaba Group will continue to participate in Alipay’s future financial performance, including a future IPO or other liquidity event. The agreement is consistent with the two agreed-upon principles established at the outset of the negotiations: structure the inter-company relationship between Alipay and Taobao in order to preserve the value within Taobao and, by extension, within Alibaba Group; and provide that Alibaba Group is appropriately compensated for the value of Alipay. (more…)

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