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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 28, 2015 at 7:25am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 28, 2015 at 6:48am

Human-specific gene ARHGAP11B promotes basal progenitor amplification and neocortex expansion
A single gene may have paved the way for the rise of human intelligence by dramatically increasing the number of brain cells found in a key brain region.
This gene seems to be uniquely human: It is found in modern-day humans, Neanderthals and another branch of extinct humans called Denisovans, but not in chimpanzees.
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/02/25/science.aaa1975

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 27, 2015 at 6:00am

Reversing Lupus
Immune cells in mice with lupus symptoms have overactive metabolisms, so scientists inhibited two metabolic pathways and succeeded in reversing lupus symptoms in mice
In a patient with the autoimmune disease lupus, immune cells attack the body’s own tissues as if they were an invading pathogen. This can lead to damage to the skin, joints, kidneys, and even the brain.

Now a team of immunologists reports that some of these errant immune cells have an overactive metabolism, and that inhibiting two key metabolic pathways can reverse lupus symptoms in mice (Sci. Transl. Med. 2015,
http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/7/274/274ra18

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 26, 2015 at 7:22am

According to a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the best length for eyelashes is one-third the width of their eye. Anything shorter or longer increases airflow around the eye and leads to more dust hitting the surface.
Eyelashes form a barrier to control airflow and the rate of evaporation on the surface of the cornea," according to the lead author Guillermo Amador, from the Georgia Institute of Technology. "When eyelashes are shorter than the one-third ratio, they have only a slight effect on the flow. Their effect is more pronounced as they lengthen up until one-third. After that, they start funneling air and dust particles into the eye."
"As short lashes grew longer, they reduced air flow, creating a layer of slow-moving air above the cornea," explained researcher David Hu. "This kept the eye moist for a longer time and kept particles away. The majority of air essentially hit the eyelashes and rolled away from the eye."

However, longer lashes extended further into the airflow and created a cylinder, leading to faster evaporation.

"This is why long, elegant, fake eyelashes aren't ideal". They are not good for the health of your eyes.
Eyelashes divert airflow to protect the eye
http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/12/105/20141294

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 25, 2015 at 9:51am

A new study has identified a crucial protein that keeps the heart beating on time, which could eventually help in finding potential treatment for deadly heart problems.

W. Jonathan Lederer, MD, PhD, professor of physiology at the UM SOM, as well as director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology, and David Warshaw, PhD, professor of molecular physiology and biophysics at University of Vermont (UVM) and the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont, describe how myosin-binding protein C ("C protein") allows the muscle fibers in the heart to work in perfect synchrony.

C protein sensitizes certain parts of the sarcomere to calcium. As a result, the middle of the sarcomere contracts just as much as the ends, despite having much less calcium. In other words, C protein enables the sarcomeres to contract synchronously.

It appears to play a large part in many forms of heart disease. In the most severe cases, defects in C-protein lead to extremely serious arrhythmias, which cause sudden death when the heart loses the ability to pump blood. In the U.S., arrhythmias contribute to about 300,000 deaths a year, according to the American Heart Association. (Not all arrhythmias are fatal; some can be controlled with medicines and electrical stimulation.)

The study is published in the journal Science Advances.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 25, 2015 at 9:50am

‘Science Cities’ to be set up in six zones across India
Plans are afoot to set up ‘Science Cities’ in five to six zones across the country in a hub-and-spoke method as part of efforts to have science and technology footprint in every State, according to Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y.S. Chowdary.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, he said each ‘Science City’ would cater to scientific institutions/ labs located in different States in that particular zone. The ‘Science City’ would have the required infrastructure and other facilities, including a convention centre, research laboratories and hotels.

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 25, 2015 at 8:24am

Alzheimer’s disease is difficult to detect in its early stages, and is often diagnosed only after it begins deteriorating someone’s memory and thinking abilities.

Researchers around the world have been looking at ways to improve the way Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed. While lots of research is focused on the brain, there could also be clues in your bloodstream as to how the disease manifests – possibly in the form of trace metals.
A team of researchers from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) Faculty of Science in Australia have taken the approach of scouring the blood for possible early warning signs, and are now closing in on a disease indicator for Alzheimer’s. Their suspected culprit: iron.

Specifically, the team is studying a protein called transferrin, which helps shuttle iron around the body. Iron binds to the transferrin proteins in your blood. When these proteins encounter corresponding transferrin receptors on the surfaces of cells, the iron is then transferred to those cells.

If transferrin fails to do its job, so to speak, iron that was meant to be distributed throughout the body might end up accumulating in the brain. According to the UTS:Science press release, this accumulation “contributes to the build-up of ‘plaques’ and ‘tangles’. Plaques impede the transmission of signals among brain cells and tangles kill them.”
Overall, people with Alzheimer's had lower levels of iron in their blood compared to the healthy volunteers, according to teh new research done in Australia.
Decreased Plasma Iron in Alzheimer’s Disease Is Due to Transferrin Desaturation
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/cn5003557

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 25, 2015 at 8:16am

New insect-borne virus that might cause severe symptoms in human beings found
Scientists have described a previously unknown insect-borne virus, following the death of a man in the Kansas county of Bourbon in the US in mid-2014.

According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the otherwise healthy, 50-year-old man was working outside on his property in mid-2014, when he sustained multiple tick bites, which led to an array of symptoms including fever, fatigue, rash, headaches, nausea and vomiting around two days after. After he was hospitalised, his white blood cell count dipped, his lungs and kidney started failing, and by day 11, suffered a heart attack, and died.
Scientists were able to isolate a new virus from a blood sample collected from the patient nine days after he fell ill, and attributed it to the Thogotovirus genus in the virus family Orthomyxoviridae. This family contains six genera - Influenza virus A, Influenza virus B, Influenza virus C, Isavirus, Thogotovirus and Quaranjavirus.

The researchers say there’s a marked difference between the symptoms suffered by this man, and other known Thogotoviruses. Thogotoviruses usually cause diseases such as meningitis or encephalitis, where the lining of the brain becomes severely inflamed. But they've never seen these viruses destroy white blood cell counts like the Bourbon virus did to this man.

The team discusses this in the current edition of the CDC journal, Emerging infectious diseases.
Novel Thogotovirus Species Associated with Febrile Illness and Death, United States, 2014
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/21/5/15-0150_article

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 25, 2015 at 7:45am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 24, 2015 at 9:18am

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