science newsletter: Science News SciGuru.com

Δευτέρα 9 Δεκεμβρίου 2013

Science News SciGuru.com

How 'good cholesterol' stops inflammation
Air pollution kills well below European Union air quality limits
Promising cancer drug candidate for the treatment of multiple myeloma
Ancient crater may be clue to Moon’s mantle

How 'good cholesterol' stops inflammation

Posted: 09 Dec 2013 07:15 AM PST

High-density lipoprotein (HDL), known colloquially as "good cholesterol", protects against dangerous deposits in the arteries. An important function of HDL is its anti-inflammatory properties. An international research team at the Institute of Innate Immunity at the University Hospital of Bonn and the LIMES Institute at the University of Bonn has identified a central switch by which HDL controls the inflammatory response. The results are presented in the current issue of "Nature Immunology".

Air pollution kills well below European Union air quality limits

Posted: 09 Dec 2013 07:08 AM PST

According to new research, prolonged exposure to small particles found in traffic fumes and industrial emissions can be more deadly than previously thought. This also applies to levels below the current European Union (EU) air quality standards. Researchers from Karolinska Institutet, mainly at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, took part in the international study published in The Lancet.

Promising cancer drug candidate for the treatment of multiple myeloma

Posted: 09 Dec 2013 07:04 AM PST

A new study conducted by scientists from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School and Karolinska Institutet presents very promising results for the treatment of the cancer form multiple myeloma. The drug candidate used in the research has been developed by scientists from Karolinska Institutet and a Swedish company following its initial identification at the same university. The findings are so promising that the scientists are teaming up with Harvard to bring the drug to clinical trials on patients.

Ancient crater may be clue to Moon’s mantle

Posted: 09 Dec 2013 06:51 AM PST

A massive impact on the Moon about 4 billion years ago left a 2,500-mile crater, among the largest known craters in the solar system. Smaller subsequent impacts left craters within that crater. Comparing the spectra of light reflected from the peaks of those craters may yield clues to the composition of the Moon’s lower crust and mantle — and would have implications for models of how the Moon formed.

Researchers from Brown University and the University of Hawaii have found some mineralogical surprises in the Moon’s largest impact crater.