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Cells in Blood Vessel Found To Cling More Tightly in Regions of Rapid Flow

By Guest PostApril 27, 2012Health, Sciencebenjamin shuman, biochemical change, blockage, cardiac surgeon, cardiovascular disease, cell, cholesterol, clogging, heart, joon jung, living organ, lucas ting, mechanical engineering, nathan sniadecki, sangyoon han, shirin feghhi, surgeon, tugging force, university of washington, vascular leakage

Clogging of pipes leading to the heart is the planet’s number one killer. Surgeons can act as medical plumbers to repair some blockages, but we don’t fully understand how this living organ deteriorates or repairs itself over time.

Researchers at the University of Washington have studied vessel walls and found the cells pull more tightly together, reducing vascular leakage, in areas of fast-flowing blood. The finding could influence how doctors design drugs to treat high cholesterol, or how cardiac surgeons plan their procedures. (more…)

Researchers Boost Efficiency of Multi-Hop Wireless Networks

By Guest PostApril 27, 2012Science, Technologyalgorithm, data access, data transmission, multi hop, node, parth pathak, rudra dutta, wireless network, wireless node

Multi-hop wireless networks can provide data access for large and unconventional spaces, but they have long faced significant limits on the amount of data they can transmit. Now researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a more efficient data transmission approach that can boost the amount of data the networks can transmit by 20 to 80 percent.

“Our approach increases the average amount of data that can be transmitted within the network by at least 20 percent for networks with randomly placed nodes – and up to 80 percent if the nodes are positioned in clusters within the network,” says Dr. Rudra Dutta, an associate professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper on the research. The approach also makes the network more energy efficient, which can extend the lifetime of the network if the nodes are battery-powered. (more…)

Locked RNA Editing Yields Odd Fly Behavior

By Guest PostApril 26, 2012Scienceabiotic factor, als, arthur sugden, asli sahin, brown university, cell, charles lawrence, dadar, enzyme adar, epilepsy, factor, fruit fly, function, genetic, jacquelyn dorsky, james jepson, lauren alpert, locking down, lou gehrigs disease, nucleus, organism, phenomenon, protein, rna, robert reenan, suicidal depression, temperature, wallflowers, yiannis savva

At the level of proteins, organisms can adapt by editing their RNA — and an editor can even edit itself. Brown University scientists working with fruit flies found that “locking down” the self-editing process at two extremes created some strange behaviors. They also found that the process is significantly affected by temperature.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Because a function of RNA is to be translated as the genetic instructions for the protein-making machinery of cells, RNA editing is the body’s way of fine-tuning the proteins it produces, allowing us to adapt. The enzyme ADAR, which does this editing job in the nervous system of creatures ranging from mice to men, even edits itself. In a new study that examined the self-editing process and locked it down at two extremes in fruit flies, Brown University scientists found some surprising insights into how this “fine-tuning of the fine-tuner” happens, including bizarre behavioral effects that come about when the self-editor can’t edit. (more…)

My Fair Physicist? Feminine Math, Science Role Models Do Not Motivate Girls

By Guest PostApril 26, 2012General, Sciencedenise sekaquaptewa, diana betz, engineering, excel, feminine qualities, field, jared wadley, mathematic, role model, Science, stem, stereotype, Technology, unfeminine, university of michigan, women

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Women who excel in male-dominated science, technology, engineering and mathematic fields are often unjustly stereotyped as unfeminine.

However, if women are perceived as having feminine qualities, their success may actually decrease interest in these fields (usually referred to as “STEM”), particularly among young girls, according to a new University of Michigan study. (more…)

Which Ads Are Winners? Your Brain Knows Better Than You Do

By Guest PostApril 26, 2012Scienceadvertisements, advertising campaigns, advertising dollars, advertising industry, anti smoking advertisements, brain data, persuasive advertising

Study on smokers’ brains may mark dawn of a new age in advertising

Advertisers and public health officials may be able to access hidden wisdom in the brain to more effectively sell their products and promote health and safety, UCLA neuroscientists report in the first study to use brain data to predict how large populations will respond to advertisements. (more…)

Inspired by Insects

By Guest PostApril 25, 2012Sciencebioactive hydrogel matrices, biomimetic, cell adhesion, cicadas, degradation, elastic, frequency, gel, grasshopper, hmscs, human mesenchymal stem cells, kristi kiick, microsecond, multipotent cells, phonation, polypeptide hydrogel, protein, radio wave, regenerative power, resilin, speak, susan thibeault, timothy mcculloch, tissue, torsional wave apparatus, united states, university of delaware, vibratory stimulation, vocal folds, voice problem, words, xinqiao jia

For treatment of vocal fold disorders, UD researchers look to insect protein

A one-inch long grasshopper can leap a distance of about 20 inches. Cicadas can produce sound at about the same frequency as radio waves. Fleas measuring only millimeters can jump an astonishing 100 times their height in microseconds. How do they do it? They make use of a naturally occurring protein called resilin.

Resilin is a protein in the composite structures found in the leg and wing joints, and sound producing organs of insects. Highly elastic, it responds to exceptionally high rates of speed and demonstrates unmatched resilience after being stretched or deformed. (more…)

Plant Scientists Find Mechanism That Gives Plants ‘Balance’

By Guest PostApril 23, 2012Sciencearabidopsis, decision, defense mode, disease, gibberellins, growth mechanism, harsh weather, hormone, jasmonates, michigan state university, narrow leafed plant, phenomenon, plant, sheng yang he

EAST LANSING, Mich. — When a plant goes into defense mode in order to protect itself against harsh weather or disease, that’s good for the plant, but bad for the farmer growing the plant. Bad because when a plant acts to defend itself, it turns off its growth mechanism.

But now researchers at Michigan State University, as part of an international collaboration, have figured out how plants can make the “decision” between growth and defense, a finding that could help them strike a balance – keep safe from harm while continuing to grow. (more…)

First Atomic-Scale Real-Time Movies of Platinum Nanocrystal Growth in Liquids

By Guest PostApril 23, 2012Sciencealex zettl, alivisatos zettl collaboration, anisotropic particle, atomic scale, berkeley lab, crystallographic direction, daniel hellebusch, DNA, electron beam, electron microscope, gold tem mesh, grapheme, graphene liquid cells, growth, growth trajectory, jeong yong lee, jong min yuk, jungwon park, kwanpyo kim, liquid, lynn yarris, membrane, metal, michael crommie, movie, nanocrystal, nanometer scale, nanoparticle growth, ncem, paul alivisatos, peter ercius, platinum nanocrystal, protein, real-time, solution, subnanometer resolution, tem grid, transmission electron microscope, university of california

Berkeley Scientists Create Graphene Liquid Cells for Electron Microscopy Studies of Nanocrystal Formation

They won’t be coming soon to a multiplex near you, but movies showing the growth of platinum nanocrystals at the atomic-scale in real-time have blockbuster potential. A team of scientists with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley has developed a technique for encapsulating liquids of nanocrystals between layers of graphene so that chemical reactions in the liquids can be imaged with an electron microscope. With this technique, movies can be made that provide unprecedented direct observations of physical, chemical and biological phenomena that take place in liquids on the nanometer scale. (more…)

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