Body

LA JOLLA, Calif., February 12, 2009—Taking clues from their stem cell research, investigators at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) and Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have discovered that a signaling pathway involved in normal pancreatic development is also associated with type 2 diabetes. Their findings, published online January 9 in Experimental Diabetes Research, could provide a potential new target for therapy.

MADISON — A little more than a year after University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists showed they could turn skin cells back into stem cells, they have pulsating proof that these "induced" stem cells can indeed form the specialized cells that make up heart muscle.

PHILADELPHIA (February 12, 2009) – Obese people who drink fructose-sweetened beverages with their meals have an increased rise of triglycerides following the meal, according to new research from the Monell Center.

"Increased triglycerides after a meal are known predictors of cardiovascular disease," says Monell Member and study lead author Karen L. Teff, PhD, a metabolic physiologist. "Our findings show that fructose-sweetened beverages raise triglyceride levels in obese people, who already are at risk for metabolic disorders such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes."

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CHICAGO – Diet – and how it has shaped our genome – occupies much of an evolutionary scientist's time. Anne Stone, associate professor of anthropology in Arizona State University's School of Human Evolution and Social Change, will discuss how diet holds keys to understanding who we are, how we live and form societies, and how we evolved from hunter-gatherers to agriculturists, all the way to modern urban dwellers, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. Her seminar – "Genetic Perspectives on the Evolution of Human Diets" – will be presented at 8:30 a.m.

Chewing gum made with a phosphate-binding ingredient can help treat high phosphate levels in dialysis patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a study appearing in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results suggest that this simple measure could maintain proper phosphate levels and help prevent cardiovascular disease in these patients.

Scientists have begun to solve some of the mysteries of the common cold by putting together the pieces of the genetic codes for all the known strains of the human rhinovirus. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have completed the genomic sequences of the viruses and assembled them into a "family tree," which shows how the viruses are related, with their commonalities and differences. The study will be released on the online version of the journal Science (Science Express) at 2 p.m.

MADISON — In an effort to confront our most familiar malady, scientists have deciphered the instruction manual for the common cold.

Writing this week (Feb. 12) in the journal Science, a multi-institutional team of researchers reports the sequences for all of the 99 known strains of cold virus, nature's most ubiquitous human pathogen. The feat exposes, in precise detail, all of the molecular features of the many variations of the virus responsible for the common cold, the inescapable ailment that makes us all sneeze, cough and sniffle with regularity.

MADISON — A hallucinogenic compound found in a plant indigenous to South America and used in shamanic rituals regulates a mysterious protein that is abundant throughout the body, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have discovered.

The finding, reported in the Feb. 13 issue of Science, may ultimately have implications for treating drug abuse and/or depression. Many more experiments will be needed, the researchers say.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new ink developed by researchers at the University of Illinois allows them to write their own silver linings.

The ink, composed of silver nanoparticles, can be used in electronic and optoelectronic applications to create flexible, stretchable and spanning microelectrodes that carry signals from one circuit element to another. The printed microelectrodes can withstand repeated bending and stretching with minimal change in their electrical properties.

Jülich, 13 February 2009 – An international research team has succeeded in gaining an in-depth insight into an unusual phenomenon, as reported in the current edition of the high-impact journal "Science". The researchers succeeded for the first time in directly measuring the spin of electrons in a material that exhibits the quantum spin Hall effect, which was theoretically predicted in 2004 and first observed in 2007. Astonishingly, the spin currents flow without any external stimulus as a result of the internal structure of the material.

Scientists at Rochester Institute of Technology are designing a new kind of optical sensor to fly in unmanned air vehicles, or surveillance drones, tracking suspects on foot or traveling in vehicles identified as a threat.

"The Air Force has clearly recognized the change in the threat that we have," says John Kerekes, associate professor in RIT's Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science. "I think we all understand that our military has a paradigm shift. We're no longer fighting tanks in the open desert; we're fighting terrorists in small groups, asymmetric threats."

According to a recent study published online in The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids protect the liver from damage caused by obesity and the insulin resistance it provokes. This research should give doctors and nutritionists valuable information when recommending and formulating weight-loss diets and help explain why some obese patients are more likely to suffer some complications associated with obesity. Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in canola oil and fish.

February 12, 2009 - (BRONX, NY) - Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that a class of chromatin proteins is crucial for maintaining the structure and function of chromosomes and the normal development of eukaryotic organisms. The research, reported in today's print issue of Genes and Development, also found that this protein class, known as linker histones, works to regulate gene expression in vivo.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Many women scheduled to undergo hysterectomy for pre-cancerous cell changes actually need a more comprehensive surgery, something they should discuss with a gynecologic oncologist, say researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

If seen by a specialist, it should be recommended they undergo a procedure that focuses on lymph nodes and other organs not involved in a traditional hysterectomy, said Warner Huh, M.D., a researcher at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.