science newsletter: Science News SciGuru.com

Παρασκευή 14 Φεβρουαρίου 2014

Science News SciGuru.com

Why is exercise good for your heart? Benefits to heart cells from long-term, moderate exercise
Protein Switch Dictates Cellular Fate: Stem Cell or Neuron
Action Video Games May Improve Literacy Skills in People with dyslexia
Scientists Derive Platelets from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Why is exercise good for your heart? Benefits to heart cells from long-term, moderate exercise

Posted: 14 Feb 2014 04:26 AM PST

It is well-recognised that a regime of moderate physical exercise can have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular health, but a new study from the Proteomics Unit at the Centre for Genomic Regulation, in Barcelona, Spain sheds light on the molecular mechanisms which could underlie this benefit. The study, published in the Journal of Proteomic Research, was carried out in a laboratory rat model and showed that a moderate exercise programme altered the phosphorylation of a suite of proteins in the mitochondria of heart cells.

Protein Switch Dictates Cellular Fate: Stem Cell or Neuron

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 07:52 PM PST

UnivResearchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that a well-known protein has a new function: It acts in a biological circuit to determine whether an immature neural cell remains in a stem-like state or proceeds to become a functional neuron.

Action Video Games May Improve Literacy Skills in People with dyslexia

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST

A new study suggests that action video games might improve literacy skills in those with dyslexia. Dyslexia, a developmental reading disorder, occurs when there is a problem in certain areas of the brain involved in interpreting language. Dyslexia is the most common learning disability, representing five to 10 percent of the population.

According to the study, in addition to their trouble with reading, people with dyslexia also have difficulty when it comes to managing competing sensory cues.

Scientists Derive Platelets from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST

In a new study by Japanese scientists report that they have derived platelets from human induced pluripotent stem cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells are adult cells transformed to embryonic stem cell like population by altering their genetic program. By further manipulation of induced pluripotent stem cells, cells of any kind can be generated.