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The new knowledge could allow to overcome the difficulties encountered in using these viruses as vectors for gene therapy
After more than a decade of studies , scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have reconstructed the structure of human adenovirus , the largest ever determined with atomic resolution .
The result, described in detail in an article published Science Could lead to new strategies to combat viruses that cause respiratory and gastrointestinal infections .
“We gained a lot of important knowledge on viruses from the reconstruction of its structure , “said Glen Nemerow , who with his colleague Vijay Reddy directed the study . ” This is very important if you want to re-engineer the virus for gene therapy . ”
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An international team of researchers has been associated with migraine a genetic variant located near the genes that encode proteins involved in glutamate homeostasis . The study, published today in the online edition of the journal Nature GeneticsMight stimulate further work on the treatment of this disease, which affects three times more women than men.
“Our study suggests that glutamate, a neurotransmitter in the brain, is an important component in the susceptibility of migraine attack and may stimulate further studies related to treatment, ” explains to SINC Aarno Palotie , lead study author and researcher at the Wellcome Trust Institute Sanger of Cambridge (United Kingdom).
After analyzing the genome of about 5,000 people in Europe ( no Spanish ) who had been diagnosed with various forms of migraine , Palotie and his team identified a gene variant linked to chromosome 8q22.1 . The study is published in the online edition of the journal Nature Genetics and more comprehensive history that examines the factors of risk for migraine.
The variant identified is located near the genes encoding proteins involved in regulating glutamate. So this new research indicates that need for further work , which is expected to include the Spanish population, to confirm this relationship.
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Due to the impact of causing climate extremes in agriculture and health in Spain , researchers at the University of Salamanca ( USAL ) have analyzed the two variables most representative of these temperature extremes from 1950 to 2006: warm days and cold nights. The results for the Iberian Peninsula shows an increase in warm days than the rest of the planet, and a decrease in cold nights.
Few studies have focused on climate extremes and changes that are occurring in the maximum and minimum temperatures or in the variables of warm days and cool nights. Until now , most research had analyzed the changes in global average temperature . These results indicated an increase caused ” most likely ” by anthropogenic factors.
The new study , published in the journal Climatic Change, Allowed the analysis from the physical point of view the causes of changes in climate extremes , ie, ” what changes are occurring in air masses reaching the Iberian Peninsula and in the temperature of the sea ” Concepcion said Rodriguez, lead author of the work and research in the Department of General Physics and Atmosphere USAL.
“The results indicate a growing trend in the frequency of hot days and a decrease in the frequency of cold nights. The trend of decreasing cold nights corresponds to that obtained on a global scale as the Fourth Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC). However, the growth of warm days on the Iberian Peninsula is generally greater than that obtained for the whole planet , “says the scientist.
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The muscles retain , through the number of cell nuclei , a trace of past exercise.
Why does one recover faster muscle strength , lost during a period of inactivity , when one has already led before? So far , no mechanism had been demonstrated in the muscle itself , and it favored the hypothesis of a memory training at the central nervous system. Researchers at the University of Oslo, Norway, challenge this idea into question .
Causing periods of inactivity and intense muscular activity in mice and following the evolution of muscle cells by videomicroscopy , Jo C. Bruusgaard and colleagues have shown that the nuclei of these cells remain in some way by their number , the memory of a previous physical training .
Long fibers up to 30 centimeters long, the muscle cells of skeletal muscles are among the few body cells with multiple nuclei . Their size increases when the muscle is subjected to the exercise , and the number of myofibrils , long protein filaments found in these cells and responsible for the contraction and relaxation of muscle. The myofibrils are activated by genes in the nuclei , it was thought that the number of nuclei per muscle cell adjusted itself to the size of muscle cells to respond to these needs .
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Chinese researchers have found that prolonged exposure to IL -1 molecule , known as the “molecule of fever , may also cause tissue damage , as in many autoinflammatory diseases . These findings, published in the online edition of the journal Nature ImmunologyCould lead to the development of new treatments.
A key inflammatory molecule , interleukin 1 (IL- 1) has been called the “molecule of fever “because its release results in increased body temperature, in addition to activating immune cells to fight infection. But a new study by researchers at Tsinghua University in Beijing (China ), reveals that prolonged exposure can also cause other damage.
Thus the work , published today in the online edition of the journal Nature Immunology Shows that the “molecule of fever “can cause a deterioration in the tissues , as in many autoinflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis .
The team, led by Wang Xinquan , has figured out how IL- 1beta , a very important form of IL -1, activator binds to its receptor IL- 1RI – signaling that promotes inflammation – and IL- receptor inhibitor 1RII – which reduces the signs of inflammation.
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Cancer therapy currently means three things: surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Berlin researchers add a new method : the thermal treatment.
Andreas Jordan holds with tweezers a five cent coin into the notch a little brown box on his desk. At the two edges of the notch are coils that can induce an alternating magnetic field that its polarity can go up to 100,000 times per second. No sooner has the power is the coin begins to glow an orange – red. Jordan makes the glowing coin in a glass bowl with water slide , where it is colored black with a loud hiss. Sort of like that coin Jordan also brings to his body, and cancerous tumors can destroy them with this method altogether.
So far, the cancer therapy rested on three pillars: surgery , irradiation and chemotherapy. Now is probably as a fourth option, the “thermal therapy added to nanoparticles . “The principle is similar to that of the coin , “says Jordan , ” In the treatment of fine iron oxide dust is injected into malignant tumors, and heated in an alternating magnetic field. The tumor cells are downright cooked it : they burst or are severely weakened . “The trick to the method: This technique is the doctor in a position to fight the cancer from within. The nano – particles migrate from the tumor out not because they are stuck in a shell of amino silanes , which make the particles clump together after her heat in the tumor.
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Drug companies use a similar strategy as used cars dealers . Exploit the fact that their customers have less information than they were, and inferior goods issue for a miracle .
Contends that Donald Light , a sociologist and expert on health care from a medical university in New Jersey . Passed the available data on the results of clinical trials , the approval of new drugs on the U.S. market and marketing strategies of pharmaceutical companies. Concluded that the quality of goods offered by them is on average worse than doctors and patients believe.
“Companies often hide or detract information about serious side effects of new drugs and vice versa exaggerate their positive effects , ” Light summarized their findings at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association .
While verifying the effects of clinical examination, the doctor is , however, few have time to study in detail . Moreover, they are paid directly by manufacturers and their progress can edit their own benefit. Independent evaluations according Light show that about 85 percent of new drugs brings only a slight advantage over earlier versions , which often have serious side effects . Cites a study that tracked out of 111 applications for approval of new drug were about forty percent showed serious transgressions against proper clinical trials .
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British scientists have deciphered and published nearly a hugely complex genetic information of wheat , which is one of the staple food for one third of humanity . Their work should lead to the development of more durable and more profitable types of cereals , which would help to counter the threat of food shortages in the world.
Wheat was the rice and maize last basic cereals , whose genetic code has not yet been deciphered . The reason is its vast extent - wheat genome is five times bulkier than human . Scientists from Liverpool University, he still managed to read 95 percent .
” The information we obtain will be invaluable in addressing the global food shortage , ” says team leader Neil Hall . Production of wheat in the world now threaten climate change , while necessary, given the growth of the world’s population increases .
Another member of the Liverpool research team , Anthony Hall, quoted some experts forecast that over forty years will be needed to increase food production by 50 percent to meet demand.
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Enthusiasts from the Brno University of Technology ( BUT ) was brought from the South Pacific, more unique shots of eclipse , which will help reveal some secrets of solar corona .
Joint expedition BUT and the University of Hawaii acquired photos 11th July, on two small islands – the island and atoll Tatakoto Mangaia . Scientists from the images through unique mathematical visualization methods made according to the solar corona .
The team around Professor Miloslav Druckmuller has photographed the eclipse with a wealth of experience . This time the focus has been research studies the distribution of heavy ions of iron and nickel in the corona . It said the biggest experiment in the observation of the corona during a solar eclipse . With twelve cooled cameras scientists observed the corona in six spectral lines of heavy ions.
Physicists explore the solar corona , because the sun’s surface processes have a major impact on life on Earth . Processing images and creating visuals will last for many months . Meanwhile experts are only first results, however, apparently reflecting the success of the experiment and the importance of the data obtained.
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Stephane Rousson , 41, has been some experimentation to his credit : he crossed the Channel in an airship flying through pedals, and also tested the bike under the water. After one year of work in cooperation with the designer Minh Loc Truong and students isitva and Supmeca ( Toulon ), he recently launched the first submarine Foot : the “ Scubster.
For some time , tourists from Saint-Jean – Cap – Ferrat (Alpes – Maritimes ) have been surprised to see land on their beach this gear along 3.5 meters. Scubster The submarine is a ” wet ” when it is submerged, its Cockpit fills with water , forcing its pilot to wear a combination Diving and a bottle of air. It may fall to 6 feet deep , and going forward as backward , right and left, and if the driver stops pedaling , the submarine rises to the surface . The management is done with two independently rotating propellers that are driven by two joysticks. If a diver can reach 2 to 3 km / h with its fins, meanwhile Scubster can easily reach 8km / h.
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Why does one recover faster muscle strength , lost during a period of inactivity , when one has already led before? So far , no mechanism had been demonstrated in the muscle itself , and it favored the hypothesis of a memory training at the central nervous system. Researchers at the University of Oslo, Norway, challenge this idea into question .
Andreas Jordan holds with tweezers a five cent coin into the notch a little brown box on his desk. At the two edges of the notch are coils that can induce an alternating magnetic field that its polarity can go up to 100,000 times per second. No sooner has the power is the coin begins to glow an orange – red. Jordan makes the glowing coin in a glass bowl with water slide , where it is colored black with a loud hiss. Sort of like that coin Jordan also brings to his body, and cancerous tumors can destroy them with this method altogether.
For some time , tourists from Saint-Jean – Cap – Ferrat (Alpes – Maritimes ) have been surprised to see land on their beach this gear along 3.5 meters. Scubster The submarine is a ” wet ” when it is submerged, its Cockpit fills with water , forcing its pilot to wear a combination Diving and a bottle of air. It may fall to 6 feet deep , and going forward as backward , right and left, and if the driver stops pedaling , the submarine rises to the surface . The management is done with two independently rotating propellers that are driven by two joysticks. If a diver can reach 2 to 3 km / h with its fins, meanwhile Scubster can easily reach 8km / h.
