Tag Archives: ohio state university

Living in Poor Area as Teen Could Increase Risk for Chlamydia in Young Adulthood

Study Points to Need for Interventions That Address Neighborhood Poverty

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Living in a poor neighborhood as an adolescent is linked to an increased risk of getting the sexually transmitted infection (STI) chlamydia in young adulthood, according to new research.

Ohio State University researchers analyzed data from a large national study that tracked youths over time. The analysis suggested that children who lived in poor neighborhoods during their teenage years had an almost 25 percent greater risk of having chlamydia in their early 20s – even if they themselves weren’t poor – than did teenagers living in wealthier settings. (more…)

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The Compound in the Mediterranean Diet that Makes Cancer Cells ‘Mortal’

Scientists Design ‘Fishing’ Technique to Show How Foods Improve Health

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells’ “superpower” to escape death.

By altering a very specific step in gene regulation, this compound essentially re-educates cancer cells into normal cells that die as scheduled.

One way that cancer cells thrive is by inhibiting a process that would cause them to die on a regular cycle that is subject to strict programming. This study in cells, led by researchers at The Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, found that a compound in certain plant-based foods, called apigenin, could stop breast cancer cells from inhibiting their own death. (more…)

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Antarctic and Arctic Insects Use Different Genetic Mechanisms to Cope With Lack of Water

Genomic techniques facilitate discovery that gene expression causes disparity

Although they live in similarly extreme ecosystems at opposite ends of the world, Antarctic insects appear to employ entirely different methods at the genetic level to cope with extremely dry conditions than their counterparts that live north of the Arctic Circle, according to National Science Foundation- (NSF) funded researchers.

Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers concluded, “Polar arthropods have developed distinct… mechanisms to cope with similar desiccating conditions.” (more…)

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Climate Change is not an All-or-Nothing Proposition, Researcher Says

BOSTON — An Ohio State University statistician says that the natural human difficulty with grasping probabilities is preventing Americans from dealing with climate change.

In a panel discussion at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting on Feb. 15, Mark Berliner said that an aversion to statistical thinking and probability is a significant reason that we haven’t enacted strategies to deal with climate change right now. (more…)

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Ancient Fossilized Sea Creatures Yield Oldest Biomolecules Isolated Directly from a Fossil

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Though scientists have long believed that complex organic molecules couldn’t survive fossilization, some 350-million-year-old remains of aquatic sea creatures uncovered in Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa have challenged that assumption.

The spindly animals with feathery arms—called crinoids, but better known today by the plant-like name “sea lily”—appear to have been buried alive in storms during the Carboniferous Period, when North America was covered with vast inland seas. Buried quickly and isolated from the water above by layers of fine-grained sediment, their porous skeletons gradually filled with minerals, but some of the pores containing organic molecules were sealed intact. (more…)

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Zinc Helps against Infection by Tapping Brakes in Immune Response

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that zinc helps control infections by gently tapping the brakes on the immune response in a way that prevents out-of-control inflammation that can be damaging and even deadly.

Scientists determined in human cell culture and animal studies that a protein lures zinc into key cells that are first-responders against infection. The zinc then interacts with a process that is vital to the fight against infection and by doing so helps balance the immune response. (more…)

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New Coal Technology Harnesses Energy without Burning, Nears Pilot-Scale Development

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new form of clean coal technology reached an important milestone recently, with the successful operation of a research-scale combustion system at Ohio State University. The technology is now ready for testing at a larger scale.

For 203 continuous hours, the Ohio State combustion unit produced heat from coal while capturing 99 percent of the carbon dioxide produced in the reaction. (more…)

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Study: Alternate Walking and Running to Save Energy, Maintain Endurance

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Forget “slow and steady wins the race.” A new study shows that, at least sometimes, the best way to conserve energy and reach your destination on time is to alternate between walking and running—whether your goal is the bus stop or a marathon finish line.

In the January 30, 2013 issue of the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, researchers examined how people budget their time as they travel on foot to reach a destination at a particular appointed time. The study found that when people have neither too much time nor too little time to reach their destination, they naturally switch back and forth between walking and running, which turns out to be the best strategy for saving energy. (more…)

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