Science Simplified!

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 13, 2015 at 7:33am

This is What Happens When Mosquitoes Bite:

When a mosquito bites you, it injects an anticoagulant into the skin to make the blood thinner and flow easier and longer to feast on enough of your blood.
In reaction, the skin releases histamine, causing an inflammatory reaction. The skin gets red and forms a bump. If left alone, the swelling and redness often goes away quickly. If scratched or rubbed or if the individual has an allergic reaction, the little bump can swell considerably or even become infected.
So don’t scratch the mosquito bite! Scratching the itch of the bug bite might provide temporary relief but it also causes more skin trauma and this can lead to hyperpigmentation. Scratching can also allow bacteria from your fingertips and under the fingernails to get into the small break in the skin caused by the bite and cause an infection.

How to deal with it:

When you get a mosquito bite, cleanse the area with a gentle soap or cleanser. Acu- Life Poison Ivy Soap, while for the relief of poison ivy, oak and sumac, actually relieves the itch from mosquito bites.

If the mosquito bite itching persists:

*try an anti-itch cream with hydrocortisone like Cortizone 10 Hydrocortisone Anti Itch cream
*try an antihistamine like Benadryl Itching Stopping Gel
*there are other anti-itch creams and gels like After Bite (which contains ammonium) and After Bite Outdoors (ammonium and baking soda and tea tree oil) that some sufferers have found provide relief
*calamine lotion has also been suggested for insect bites, but it’s debatable whether it really stops itching. Calamine lotion seems to help more with a rash or irritation caused by the mosquito bite. Women who are pregnant or nursing shouldn’t use calamine lotion. It’s also a good idea to ask your doctor if calamine will interact with any medicines you’re taking.

• Apply ice to reduce swelling.
• Aloe vera is an anti-inflammatory that can be used to soothe a bite and lessen the itching, as well as help heal the skin. You can dab the gel or juice on the bite.
• Mix baking soda and water until you make a paste and apply to bites. (You can also use baking soda toothpaste.)
• Make a paste of aspirin and water and apply to bites.
• Rub the affected area with an onion slice immediately after the bite to stop the itching. Onion is an anti-inflammatory. (If you rub it on after scratching the area, it will sting.)
• Take a colloidal oatmeal bath to sooth itching.
• Rub tea tree oilon the bite. Tea tree is an antiseptic and can kill bacteria and reduce allergic skin reactions.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 11, 2015 at 12:37pm

Science Journalism! Well that is one of the things I do! I am a freelancer though!

Comment by Arjit Kishore Jere on July 11, 2015 at 12:13am

Great work.Does anyone here work in the scientific journalism field?I think the creator of this grp does?

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 10, 2015 at 8:32am

DSM honors scientists around the world
Royal DSM, a science-based company active in nutrition, health and materials, recently launched a campaign to honor scientists around the world including one working to fight malaria.

In addition to paying tribute to the scientists, the Bright Science campaign is designed to encourage discussions about how important science is for society. The campaign emphasizes major societal needs via inspiring storytelling. A short documentary describing the perseverance and personal sacrifices of scientists around the world is the centerpiece of the campaign.

The documentary, titled Unsung Heroes of Science, shows how scientists in the future will use their discoveries to feed 9 billion people in 2050, create a bionic walking machine for disabled people, and transform methane gas into biodegradable plastics. One scientist, Bart Knols, leads a team that has created a plastic tube fitted with mosquito-killing gauze that can be built into roofs in Africa.

The general public, governments, customers, businesses, opinion leaders and others are invited to discuss their opinions about how science impacts social purpose at www.sciencecanchangetheworld.org
http://www.sciencecanchangetheworld.org/

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 8, 2015 at 7:25am

Bivalent separation into univalents precedes age-related meiosis I errors in oocytes

Defective chromosome separation in the egg cells of older women can cause miscarriage and congenital diseases according to scientists
researchers at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan have used a novel imaging technique to pinpoint a significant event that leads to these types of age-related chromosomal errors. Published in Nature Communications, the study shows that as egg cells mature in older women, paired copies of matching chromosomes often separate from each other at the wrong time, leading to early division of chromosomes and their incorrect segregation into mature egg cells. Most cells have two copies of each chromosome—one from each parent. Immature egg cells also begin this way, but are transformed through a process called meiosis into mature egg cells that only have one copy of each chromosome. At the beginning of meiosis each chromosome copies itself and joins with its matching pair to form a group of four chromosomes that swap genetic material. These groups of four chromosomes—called bivalents—then split apart into single pairs, and the cell divides. One part continues as the egg cell and the other part degrades. In the second stage of meiosis, the single pairs of chromosomes—two sister chromatids joined in the middle—separate and the egg cell divides again in the same way, leaving a single mature egg cell with one copy of each chromosome.
They found that chromosomes were always distributed correctly in young egg cells, but that a little less than 10 percent of older cells suffered from segregation errors. Closer examination of the chromosome-tracking data showed that the dominant type of error was predivision of sister chromatids, and not movement of intact chromosome pairs to only one of the new cells. The tracking data also allowed researchers to go back in time and look at what was happening to chromosomes that eventually segregated incorrectly. They found that a large majority of them had been part of bivalents whose connection between paired chromosome copies had become hyperstretched and then snapped earlier in meiosis, leaving single pairs. The researchers then confirmed that the number of singly paired chromosomes—also called univalents—was higher in older mouse and even human egg cells, indicating that age-related segregation errors could be tracked back to increased numbers of prematurely separated chromosome pairs.
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150701/ncomms8550/full/ncomms8550...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 5, 2015 at 6:50am

Researchers have developed a machine to simulate the effects of Earth’s gravity in space to alleviate the problems of space travel.

Astronauts who spend a long time in the micro-gravity environment of space can experience muscle deteoriation, bone loss and other harmful effects on their body.

But using a special type of centrifuge, researchers say these problems could be minimised - ensuring astronauts on a future mission to Mars, for example, arrive fit and healthy.

The technology was developed by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

It works around the concept of a centrifuge - a spinning contraption that exerts a force on a human occupant through its rotation.

Rotating at a specific speed will ‘push’ the astronaut back, in effect mimicking the force they would feel from Earth’s gravity.

The research was published in the journal Acta Astronautica.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576515001344

Humans experience physiological deconditioning during space missions, primarily attributable to weightlessness. Some of these adverse consequences include bone loss, muscle atrophy, sensory-motor deconditioning, and cardiovascular alteration, which may lead to orthostatic intolerance when astronauts return to Earth. Artificial gravity could provide a comprehensive countermeasure capable of challenging all the physiological systems at once, particularly if combined with exercise, thereby maintaining overall health during extended exposure to weightlessness. A new Compact Radius Centrifuge (CRC) platform was designed and built on the existing Short Radius Centrifuge (SRC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The centrifuge has been constrained to a radius of 1.4 m, the upper radial limit for a centrifuge to fit within an International Space Station (ISS) module without extensive structural alterations. In addition, a cycle ergometer has been added for exercise during centrifugation. The CRC now includes sensors of foot forces, cardiovascular parameters, and leg muscle electromyography. An initial human experiment was conducted on 12 subjects to analyze the effects of different artificial gravity levels (0 g, 1 g, and 1.4 g, measured at the feet) and ergometer exercise intensities (25 W warm-up, 50 W moderate and 100 W vigorous) on the musculoskeletal function as well as motion sickness and comfort. Foot forces were measured during the centrifuge runs, and subjective comfort and motion sickness data were gathered after each session. Preliminary results indicate that ergometer exercise on a centrifuge may be effective in improving musculoskeletal function. The combination is well tolerated and motion sickness is minimal. The MIT CRC is a novel platform for future studies of exercise combined with artificial gravity. This combination may be effective as a countermeasure to space physiological deconditioning.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 3, 2015 at 1:40pm

POPs and Gut Microbiota: Dietary Exposure Alters Ratio of Bacterial Species
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been implicated in myriad human health problems, including cancer, neurologic, immunologic, and reproductive defects, among many other adverse health effects. New lines of research suggest that chronic dietary exposure to POPs may also contribute to obesity and type 2 diabetes. In this issue of EHP, researchers examine how one POP in particular—2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF)—affects the composition of the mouse gut microbiome. They report that TCDF exposure alters the gut microbiome in ways that may prove to contribute to obesity and other metabolic diseases.

TCDF binds the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), which activates a variety of biological responses. Recent studies indicate that keeping the gut in good working order is one of these functions.
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/123-a187/

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 3, 2015 at 1:27pm

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 2, 2015 at 11:58am

Sex divide seen in mechanism that produces persistent pain

Research showing that male and female mice regulate pain sensitivity differently raises questions about gender balance in experimental design.

http://www.nature.com/news/sex-divide-seen-in-mechanism-that-produc...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 2, 2015 at 11:54am

The children of genetically-unrelated parents are more likely than those with similar genes to be taller and more intelligent according to the biggest study yet of human genetic diversity in an age when more people than ever are marrying people from different parts of the world.

Scientists found that height and general intelligence were two traits that appear to be increasing as a result of the mixing of DNA between genetically-diverse parents who on average share fewer genes than more closely related individuals.

However, the researchers also found that the increasing genetic diversity of the human population appeared to have little or no effect on a range of other medical traits, such as blood pressure, which could affect peoples’ health over their lifetimes.

Ever since Charles Darwin, scientists have argued over the effects of “inbreeding” between close relatives such as first cousins, but there have been few studies to look into the positive benefits of “outbreeding” between more distantly-related parents with widely different genetic backgrounds.

The latest research, published in the journal Nature, analysed more than 100 separate studies carried out around the world involving some 350,000 people living in both rural and urban environments.

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