Montreal, April 18, 2010 – A mystery about the mechanism behind sexual mate selection has been resolved. According to a new study published in the journal Nature, Université de Montréal researchers have discovered a molecular switch that becomes activated in response to a potential mate's signal. Simply put, an organism knows that a potential mate is close-by and healthy enough to mate.
Yeast cells decide whether to have sex with each other within two minutes of meeting, according to new research published today in Nature. One of the authors of the study, from Imperial College London, says the new insights into how yeast cells decide to mate could be helpful for researchers looking at how cancer cells and stem cells develop.
Ocean explorers are puzzling out Nature's purpose behind an astonishing variety of tiny ocean creatures like microbes and zooplankton animals - each perhaps a ticket-holder in life's lottery, awaiting conditions that will allow it to prosper and dominate.
The inventory and study of the hardest-to-see sea species -- tiny microbes, zooplankton, larvae and burrowers in the sea bed, which together underpin almost all other life on Earth -- is the focus of four of 14 field projects of the Census of Marine Life.
Results of a study presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2010 demonstrate that a dual FXR and TGR5 agonist decreases liver damage and modulates hepatic inflammation and fibrosis in a mouse model of primary sclerosing chlolangitis. In contrast, selective FXR or TGR5 agonists have no beneficial effect.
FXR and TGR5 agonists are responsible for regulating bile acids, glucose, lipids and inflammation.
(Boston, Mass., April 14, 2010) Rising from the top surface of each of the specialized receptor cells in our inner ears is a bundle of sensory cilia that responds to the movement of sound. As sensitive as they are fragile, these cilia can move to wisps of sound no larger than a molecule—but can shear at sounds that are larger than life.
CINCINNATI—The American Cancer Society estimates one man in six will get prostate cancer during his lifetime, making it the second-leading cause of cancer death in men. With a new partnership with Areva Med, UC researchers will investigate the use of a new drug in stopping the growth of prostate cancer tumors.
In the study, UC researchers in the lab of Zhongyun Dong, PhD, will test the efficacy of a new agent targeted against a specific protein on the surface of the tumor.
16 April 2010 -- A number of updated guidelines are presented at the Anniversary Congress of the European Association of Urology (EAU) held in Barcelona, from 16 through 20 April. The abridged versions - Pocket Guidelines – which are based on the extended text documents will also be available in Barcelona to all EAU members and press.
In a multidisciplinary approach, Professor Yves Barral, from the Biology Department at ETH Zurich and the computer scientists Dr. Gina Cannarozzi and Professor Gaston Gonnet, from the Computer Science Department of ETH Zurich and the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, joined forces to chase possible sub-codes in genomic information. The study, which will be published in today's issue of the journal Cell, led to the identification of novel sequence biases and their role in the control of genomic expression.
Small but mighty, a beneficial microbe called Muscodor albus may help protect fresh grapes from troublesome gray mold. Experiments conducted over the past several years by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant pathologist Joseph L. Smilanick and his ARS and industry colleagues have shown that M. albus can combat Botrytis cinerea, the organism that causes gray mold.
Gray mold can ruin the taste and appearance of fresh-market grapes, according to Smilanick.
Vienna, Austria, Friday 16 April: Results of a German study presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2010, the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Liver in Vienna, Austria, have shown that overall, treatment with high dose (23-28mg/kg/d) ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is no more effective than placebo in the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the most advanced form of non-alcoholic liver disease associated with cirrhosis of the liver .
Vienna, Austria, Thursday 15 April: Results from a multinational phase II study presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2010 have shown that treatment with the caspase inhibitor GS-9450 can reduce markers of liver damage in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH – the most serious form of non-alcoholic liver disease) as demonstrated by reduced levels of alanine (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferases (AST), hepatic enzymes that indicate cell damage.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – When crises such as the recent Toyota recalls occur, public relations practitioners develop strategies to minimize damage to company images. University of Missouri researchers have found that consumers blame an organization for crises more when customers are injured, as opposed to when members or employees of the organizations are injured. In the study, MU researchers also concluded that the identity of the injured in a crisis is more important to consumers when determining blame than the actual seriousness of the crisis.
Vienna, Austria, Friday 16 April 2010: Results from two French studies presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2010 press conference will help inform clinical practice in the treatment of patients with severe or acute alcoholic hepatitis.
Vienna, Austria, Friday 16 April: Results of an international clinical study conducted in Europe and the US presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2010, the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Liver in Vienna, Austria, have identified a genomic portrait able to predict recurrence in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the fifth most common cancer in men .
Vienna, Austria, Friday 16th April 2010: Results from two studies presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2010 have shown that treatment with extracorporeal devices may not confer a survival advantage for severe liver failure patients, despite positive dialysis effects. However, results among a small sub-group of patients show promise.