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Aspirin triggered resolvin protects against cognitive decline after surgery
Researchers found that adult wild chimpanzees have developed a certain immunity against malaria parasites
New Ruthenium complexes target cancer cells without typical side effects
Shape-shifting Nanoparticles Flip from Sphere to Net in Response to Tumor Signal
Rats have a double view of the world
Scientists Find Possible Solution to an Ancient Enigma
Scientists develop CO2 sequestration technique that produces 'supergreen' hydrogen fuel, offsets ocean acidification
Preventing ‘traffic jams’ in brain cells
Researchers identify novel class of drugs for prostate cancers that disrupts growth signaling

Aspirin triggered resolvin protects against cognitive decline after surgery

Posted: 29 May 2013 04:43 AM PDT

Resolvins are molecules naturally produced by the body from omega-3 fatty acids - a process that can be jumpstarted by common aspirin. In a new study, published in The FASEB Journal, researchers at Karolinska Institutet describe how resolvins could protect against the cognitive impairment that often affects recovery of surgical and critically ill patients. The study adds new knowledge on how peripheral surgery affects the brain and neuronal function contributing to the processes of cognitive decline.

Researchers found that adult wild chimpanzees have developed a certain immunity against malaria parasites

Posted: 29 May 2013 04:36 AM PDT

Wild great apes are widely infected with malaria parasites. Yet, nothing is known about the biology of these infections in the wild. Using faecal samples collected from wild chimpanzees, an international team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin has now investigated the effect of the animals’ age on malaria parasite detection rates.

New Ruthenium complexes target cancer cells without typical side effects

Posted: 28 May 2013 01:20 PM PDT

A team of UT Arlington researchers has identified two ruthenium-based complexes they believe could pave the way for treatments that control cancer cell growth more effectively and are less toxic for patients than current chemotherapies.

Shape-shifting Nanoparticles Flip from Sphere to Net in Response to Tumor Signal

Posted: 28 May 2013 12:43 PM PDT

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, have designed tiny spherical particles to float easily through the bloodstream after injection, then assemble into a durable scaffold within diseased tissue. An enzyme produced by a specific type of tumor can trigger the transformation of the spheres into netlike structures that accumulate at the site of a cancer, the team reports in the journal Advanced Materials this week.

Rats have a double view of the world

Posted: 28 May 2013 12:21 PM PDT

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, using miniaturised high-speed cameras and high-speed behavioural tracking, discovered that rats move their eyes in opposite directions in both the horizontal and the vertical plane when running around. Each eye moves in a different direction, depending on the change in the animal’s head position. An analysis of both eyes’ field of view found that the eye movements exclude the possibility that rats fuse the visual information into a single image like humans do.

Scientists Find Possible Solution to an Ancient Enigma

Posted: 28 May 2013 12:10 PM PDT

The widespread disappearance of stromatolites, the earliest visible manifestation of life on Earth, may have been driven by single-celled organisms called foraminifera.

The findings, by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI); Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the University of Connecticut; Harvard Medical School; and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, were published online the week of May 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists develop CO2 sequestration technique that produces 'supergreen' hydrogen fuel, offsets ocean acidification

Posted: 28 May 2013 11:57 AM PDT

Lawrence Livermore scientists have discovered and demonstrated a new technique to remove and store atmospheric carbon dioxide while generating carbon-negative hydrogen and producing alkalinity, which can be used to offset ocean acidification.

Preventing ‘traffic jams’ in brain cells

Posted: 28 May 2013 11:01 AM PDT

Imagine if you could open up your brain and look inside.

What you would see is a network of nerve cells called neurons, each with its own internal highway system for transporting essential materials between different parts of the cell.

When this biological machinery is operating smoothly, tiny motor proteins ferry precious cargo up and down each neuron along thread-like roadways called microtubule tracks. Brain cells are able to receive information, make internal repairs and send instructions to the body, telling the fingers to flex or the toes to curl.

Researchers identify novel class of drugs for prostate cancers that disrupts growth signaling

Posted: 28 May 2013 09:01 AM PDT

A new study on prostate cancer describes a novel class of drugs developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers that interrupts critical signaling needed for prostate cancer cells to grow.