Science – Page 326 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Scientists Develop Technology Revolutionizing Single-Cell Studies

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2011Sciencearchaea, bacteria in the human body, bacterial infections, bacterial pathogenesis, deep sea, global gene expression, j craig venter institute, laser tweezers system, microarrays, microbial cells lacking a nucleus, novel technology, prokaryotes, rna seq, rna sequencing, single bacterium, single cell transcriptomics, snyder hall laboratory, stuart p donachie, tung t hoang, university of hawaii at manoa, yun kang

Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, in collaboration with scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute, have made a significant breakthrough in developing a novel technology to investigate global gene-expression in a single bacterium. The team, led by Associate Professors Tung T. Hoang and Stuart P. Donachie, recently published a paper describing the technology in Genome Research (21:925-935), a premier international genome journal. UH Mānoa postdoctoral researcher Dr. Yun Kang, who performed this research in a Snyder Hall laboratory, contributed significantly and worked diligently to overcome the numerous technical challenges presented. (more…)

You Are What You Eat: Low-Fat Diet with Fish Oil Slows Growth of Prostate Cancer Cells

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2011Health, Scienceamericans, antibody, cancer cell growth, cell cycle progression, composition of cell membranes, corn oil, evaluated blood samples, fish oil supplement diet, fish oil supplements, growth of prostate cancer cells, jonsson comprehensive cancer center, ki 67, low fat diet, malignant cell proliferation, omega 6 fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acids, progression of prostate cancer, proliferation, prostate, prostate tissue, prostatectomy, protein, rate of prostate cancer cell division, targeted organ, test tube, william aronson

Men who ate a low-fat diet with fish oil supplements for four to six weeks before having their prostate removed had slower cancer-cell growth in their prostate tissue than men who ate a traditional, high-fat Western diet, according to a study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The researchers also found a change in the composition of cell membranes in both healthy cells and cancer cells in the prostates of men on the low-fat, fish oil–supplement diet. The membranes had heightened levels of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil and decreased levels of omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil, which may directly affect the biology of the cells, though further studies are needed, said Dr. William Aronson, the study’s first author and a researcher with the Jonsson Cancer Center. (more…)

‘Pacman’ Nebula Gets Some Teeth

By Guest PostOctober 27, 2011Scienceconstellation cassiopeia, cosmos, infrared light, NASA, ngc 281, pac man, pacman nebula, star forming cloud, wide field infrared survey explorer, wise

To visible-light telescopes, this star-forming cloud appears to be chomping through the cosmos, earning it the nickname the “Pacman” nebula, like the famous Pac-Man video game that debuted in 1980. When viewed in infrared light by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, the Pacman takes on a new appearance. In place of its typical, triangle-shaped mouth is a new set of lower, sharp-looking teeth. The Pacman is located at the top of the picture, taking a bite in the direction of the upper left corner.

The teeth are actually pillars where new stars may be forming. These structures were formed when radiation and winds from massive stars in a central cluster blew gas and dust away, leaving only the densest of material. The red dots sprinkled throughout the picture are thought to be the youngest stars, still forming in cocoons of dust. (more…)

Printed Protection: Low-cost Paper-based Wireless Sensor Could Help Detect Explosive Devices

By Guest PostOctober 27, 2011Science, Weaponsdetect explosive devices, explosives detection, ieds, improvised explosive devices, inkjet techniques, photographic paper, presence of explosives, prototype wireless sensor

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a prototype wireless sensor capable of detecting trace amounts of a key ingredient found in many explosives. (more…)

NASA Says Comet Elenin Gone and Should Be Forgotten

By Guest PostOctober 26, 2011Scienceastronomical name, c 2010 x1, cause célèbre, comet elenin, debris cloud, don yeomans, earthlings, elenin, ex comet, gravitational effects, internet bloggers, jet propulsion laboratory, leonid elenin of lyubertsy, millennia, monty python, NASA, oort cloud, outer solar system, pasadena, russia, russian astronomer, solar system, spaceguard

Comet Elenin is no more.

Latest indications are this relatively small comet has broken into even smaller, even less significant, chunks of dust and ice. This trail of piffling particles will remain on the same path as the original comet, completing its unexceptional swing through the inner solar system this fall.

“Elenin did as new comets passing close by the sun do about two percent of the time: It broke apart,” said Don Yeomans of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “Elenin’s remnants will also act as other broken-up comets act. They will trail along in a debris cloud that will follow a well-understood path out of the inner solar system. After that, we won’t see the scraps of comet Elenin around these parts for almost 12 millennia.” (more…)

Geoscientists Find Key to Why Some Patients Get Infections from Cardiac Implants

By Guest PostOctober 26, 2011Health, Scienceamericans, antibiotics, atomic force microscopy, bacteria adhere to mineral surfaces, bacterial and human proteins, bacterial cells, biofilm, biofilm formation, biofilm of persistent bacteria, blood infection bacteremia, charles darwin, common human blood protein, contaminated device, deadly blood infection, defibrillators, duke university medical center, enriqueta barrera, eric taylor, fibronectin, fibronectin binding protein a, gene mutations, genetic variants, geobiologists, heart implants, human body, implanted cardiac devices, infections, l barth reller, molecular dynamics simulations, nadia casillas ituarte, national science foundation, ohio state university, pacemakers, patients with implants, prosthetic cardiac valves, proteins of infectious bacteria, ruchirej yongsunthon, single nucleotide polymorphisms, snips, snps, solid substrate, staph bacteria, staphylococcus aureus, steven lower, supaporn lamlertthon, united states, vance fowler

*Bacterial cells have gene mutations that allow them to ‘stick’ to the devices*

New research suggests that some patients develop a potentially deadly blood infection from their implanted cardiac devices because bacterial cells in their bodies have gene mutations that allow them to stick to the devices.

Geoscientists were the major contributors to the finding.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the study results online this week. (more…)

NASA Telescopes Help Solve Ancient Supernova Mystery

By Guest PostOctober 25, 2011Sciencebill danchi, brian j williams, chandra xray observatory, chinese astronomers, european space agency, exploding star, guest star, infrared observations, NASA, peaceful death of a star, rcw 86, sky, spitzer space telescope, stellar explosion, sun, supernova remnant, type ia supernova, wide field infrared survey explorer, wise, xmm newton observatory

PASADENA, Calif. — A mystery that began nearly 2,000 years ago, when Chinese astronomers witnessed what would turn out to be an exploding star in the sky, has been solved. New infrared observations from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, reveal how the first supernova ever recorded occurred and how its shattered remains ultimately spread out to great distances.

The findings show that the stellar explosion took place in a hollowed-out cavity, allowing material expelled by the star to travel much faster and farther than it would have otherwise. (more…)

Shaken, not Stirred: Berkeley Lab Scientists Spy Molecular Maneuvers

By Guest PostOctober 24, 2011Scienceandrew cho, atomic precision, babak sanii, berkeley lab, biomimetic materials, catalyze a reaction, development of peptoids, gloria olivier, james bond, langmuir blodgett trough, lawrence berkeley national laboratory, liquid, membrane for filtration, misfolded proteins, molecules, nanomaterials, nanoscale ropes, nanosheet, neeraja venkateswaran, peptoid nanosheets, peptoids, protein like structures, romas kudirka, ron zuckermann, shake, synthetic polymers, two dimensional nanomaterials

Stir this clear liquid in a glass vial and nothing happens. Shake this liquid, and free-floating sheets of protein-like structures emerge, ready to detect molecules or catalyze a reaction. This isn’t the latest gadget from James Bond’s arsenal—rather, the latest research from the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientists unveiling how slim sheets of protein-like structures self-assemble. This “shaken, not stirred” mechanism provides a way to scale up production of these two-dimensional nanosheets for a wide range of applications, such as platforms for sensing, filtration and templating growth of other nanostructures.

“Our findings tell us how to engineer two-dimensional, biomimetic materials with atomic precision in water,” said Ron Zuckermann, Director of the Biological Nanostructures Facility at the Molecular Foundry, a DOE nanoscience user facility at Berkeley Lab. “What’s more, we can produce these materials for specific applications, such as a platform for sensing molecules or a membrane for filtration.” (more…)

Category Archives: Science