Tag Archives: brown university

More intestinal cells can absorb larger particles

By Guest PostAugust 22, 2013Sciencea peter morello, absorb, brown university, cells, daniel cho, edith mathiowitz, endocytosis in cells, enterocytes, finding in rats, insulin, intestinal cells, joshua reineke, larger particles, m, microfold, microspheres, phagocytosis, protein drugs, wayne state university, yu ting dingle

A new study reports that the small intestine uses more cells than scientists had realized to absorb microspheres large enough to contain therapeutic protein drugs, such as insulin. The finding in rats, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is potentially good news for developing a means for oral delivery of such drugs.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The small intestine employs more cells and mechanisms than scientists previously thought to absorb relatively large particles, such as those that could encapsulate protein-based therapeutics like insulin, according to a new study. The findings, published the week of Aug. 5, 2013, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, open another window for drug makers to increase absorption of medicines taken by mouth. (more…)

Questions for Jack Mustard: Helping to shape a new Mars rover

By Guest PostAugust 4, 2013Science2020 mission, brown university, carbon compounds, curiosity, exist on mars, geological sciences, human spaceflight, jack mustard, life on mars, mars 2020, NASA, new generation, new mars rover, planet, resources on mars, science definition team, signs of life, Technology

In 2020, a new-generation Mars rover will land on the Red Planet and gather much more detailed data than Curiosity, which is on Mars now. NASA revealed details about the new rover at a news conference Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Brown University’s Jack Mustard chaired the Mars 2020 Science Definition Team.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — NASA unveiled details about a new rover proposed to land on the surface of Mars in 2020. The details came in the form of a 154-page document prepared by the Mars 2020 Science Definition Team, which was tasked with recommending scientific objectives of the mission. (more…)

Origins and uses of wrinkles, creases, folds

By Guest PostJuly 31, 2013Scienceanatomy, biology, brown university, creases, engineers, folds, hollow channels, huajian gao, initial strain, kyung suk kim, mazen diab, micro organs, origins, properties of surface, ruga states, ruike zhao, skin creases, teng zhang, uses of wrinkles, wrinkle phase

New research into the origins of — and structural differences between — wrinkles, creases, and folds could have applications in many fields, from flexible electronic devices to dermatology to flexible sheets that become sticky when stretched. Findings from a Brown University research group appear in Proceedings of the Royal Society A.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Engineers from Brown University have mapped out the amounts of compression required to cause wrinkles, creases, and folds to form in rubbery materials. The findings could help engineers control the formation of these structures, which can be useful in designing nanostructured materials for flexible electronic devices or surfaces that require variable adhesion. (more…)

Coastal Antarctic Permafrost Melting Faster Than Expected

By Guest PostJuly 25, 2013Environmentandrew fountain, antarctic peninsula, Arctic, arctic like slump, austin, boston university, brown university, coastal antarctic, coastal arctic, david marchant, dry valleys contain, frozen water, garwood valley, ground ice, ice free islands, institute for geophysics, jaclyn watters, james dickson, james head, joseph levy, layers of sediment, lidar, marianne okal, mass, mcmurdo dry valleys, permafrost melting, phenomenon, present geologic epoch, retrogressive thaw slumps, ross sea, scientific reports, section of antarctica, tibet, university of texas, warming antarctic continent, weather station data

AUSTIN, Texas — For the first time, scientists have documented an acceleration in the melt rate of permafrost, or ground ice, in a section of Antarctica where the ice had been considered stable. The melt rates are comparable with the Arctic, where accelerated melting of permafrost has become a regularly recurring phenomenon, and the change could offer a preview of melting permafrost in other parts of a warming Antarctic continent.

Tracking data from Garwood Valley in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica, Joseph Levy, a research associate at The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Geophysics, shows that melt rates accelerated consistently from 2001 to 2012, rising to about 10 times the valley’s historical average for the present geologic epoch, as documented in the July 24 edition of Scientific Reports. (more…)

Computer models figure out sickle cell crisis

By Guest PostJuly 23, 2013Scienceafrican, blood blockages, brown university, computer models, figure out, george karniadakis, hispanic descent, huan lei, karniadakis lab, red blood cells, sickle cell crisis, ss2 cells, united states

A sickle cell crisis isn’t just about sickle-shaped red blood cells that block capillaries. A second, stickier kind of red blood cell starts the obstruction, making it difficult for sickle cells to flow past.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Using powerful computer models, researchers from Brown University have shown for the first time how different types of red blood cells interact to cause sickle cell crisis, a dangerous blockage of blood flow in capillaries that causes searing pain and tissue damage in people with sickle cell disease.

The models showed that the rigid, crescent-shaped red blood cells that are the hallmark of sickle cell disease don’t cause these blockages on their own. Instead, softer, deformable red blood cells known as SS2 cells start the process by sticking to capillary walls. The rigid sickle-shaped cells then stack up behind the SS2s, like traffic behind a car wreck. (more…)

Pistil leads pollen in life-and-death dance

By Guest PostJuly 17, 2013Nature, Sciencealexander leydon, biomolecular tango, brown university, cross breeding, female ovule, fertilization, flowers, karolina woroniecka, kristin beale, life on earth, male pollen tube, mark johnson, pistil, pollination, protein, reproduce, reproductive system, sex lives, sperm carrying pollen, stigma, thionin

Pollination, essential to much of life on earth, requires the explosive death of the male pollen tube in the female ovule. In new research, Brown University scientists describe the genetic and regulatory factors that compel the male’s role in the process. Finding a way to tweak that performance could expand crop cross-breeding possibilities.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Millions of times on a spring day there is a dramatic biomolecular tango where the flower, rather than adorning a dancer’s teeth, is the performer. In this dance, the female pistil leads, the male pollen tubes follow, and at the finish, the tubes explode and die. A new paper in Current Biology describes the genetically prescribed dance steps of the pollen tube and how their expression destines the tube for self-sacrifice, allowing flowering plants to reproduce. (more…)

Mystery of the mutant polyomavirus

By Guest PostJuly 7, 2013Health, Scienceaaron derdowski, astrocytes, bethany ohara, brain glial cells, brown university, carbohydrate, crystal structure, DNA, gretchen gee, infectious, jc polyomavirus, lstc, luisa ströh, melissa maginnis, mutant form, mutant polyomavirus, myelin, mystery, non infection, oligodendrocytes, pathogen, pml, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, thilo stehle, university of tübingen, ursula neu, vanderbilt university, virus, walter atwood, wild type, xray crystallography

A new study shows that common mutant forms of the deadly JC polyomavirus are not responsible for the pathogen’s main attack, which causes a brain-damaging disease in immunocompromised patients called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. But that finding raises the ominous question of what the mutants might be up to instead.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The JC polyomavirus is clearly opportunistic. It infects half the population but lethally destroys brain tissue only in immunocompromised patients — and it may be outright sneaky, too. Even as a new research paper allays fears that common mutant forms of the virus are the ones directly responsible for the disease’s main attack, that same finding raises new questions about what the mutants are doing instead. (more…)

The rhythm of everything

By Guest PostJune 21, 2013General, Health, Scienceadolescents, approximately a day, automobile accidents, blood pressure, body temperature, breast cancer rates, brown university, cancer epidemiology, chronic insomnia, chronobiology international, circa diem, circadian cycle, circadian gene, circadian rhythms, clock, DNA, electric lights, epigenetic changes, estrogen level, feedback loop, habitual fatigue, heart rate, human body, jet lag, key issue, kidneys, logic, molecular autoregulatory, mutation, mysterious, natural processes, physiological phenomena, probably carcinogenic, regulatory genes, rhythm of everything. biological changes, richard g stevens, scientists, seasonal affective disorder, transcriptional activators, ultraviolet light, winter blues, yong zhu

Dawn triggers basic biological changes in the waking human body. As the sun rises, so does heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. The liver, the kidneys and many natural processes also begin shifting from idle into high gear. Then as daylight wanes and darkness descends, these processes likewise begin to subside, returning to their lowest levels again as we sleep.

These internal biological patterns are tightly linked to an external cosmic pattern: the earth’s rotation around the sun once every 24 hours. This endless loop of light and darkness and the corresponding synchrony of internal and external clocks, are called circadian rhythms, from “circa diem,” Latin for “approximately a day.” Circadian rhythms influence almost all living organisms, from bacteria to algae, insects, birds and, as is increasingly understood by science, humans beings. (more…)