EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences

New method for detecting nitroxyl will boost cardiac drug research

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Wake Forest University) Wake Forest University scientists have developed a new research tool in the pursuit of heart medications based on the compound nitroxyl by identifying unique chemical markers for its presence in biological systems.

Pitt team finds molecule that regulates heart size by using zebrafish screening model

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences) Using zebrafish, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have identified and described in Nature Chemical Biology an enzyme inhibitor that increases the number of cardiac progenitor cells and influences the size of the developing heart. The task was accomplished primarily because of the powerful advantages of studying embryonic development in zebrafish, vertebrates whose transparent embryos develop rapidly, are small and easy to handle and, most importantly, grow outside of the mother.

GUMC discovery highlights new direction for drug discovery

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Georgetown University Medical Center) In a discovery that rebuffs conventional scientific thinking, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered a novel way to block the activity of the fusion protein responsible for Ewing's sarcoma, a rare cancer found in children and young adults.

Learning from locusts

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Queen's University) A similarity in brain disturbance between insects and people suffering from migraines, stroke and epilepsy points the way toward new drug therapies to address these conditions.

AGU journal highlights - July 2, 2009

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(American Geophysical Union) Featured in this release are research papers on the following topics: "Ancient supervolcano's eruption caused decade of severe winters"; "Understanding fault movement during Wenchuan earthquake"; "First direct measurement of lunar backscatter from solar wind"; "Reducing uncertainty in estimates of global sea level rise"; "Boost in freshwater content of Arctic Ocean "; "Data gaps in records hinder detection of climate trends"; "Glaciers cause seismic activity in Iceland"; and more.

Integrated optical trap holds particles for on-chip analysis

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of California - Santa Cruz) A new type of optical particle trap can be used to manipulate bacteria, viruses and other particles on a chip as part of an integrated optofluidic platform.

UT multimedia program increases middle school interest in science

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston) Middle school students who were part of a unique science learning program developed by the University of Texas School of Public Health showed significant increases in interest and achievement scores compared to other students, a recent study found.

Natural compound stops retinopathy

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Oklahoma) Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have found a way to use a natural compound to stop one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States.

Biological warfare in bacteria offers hope for new antibiotics

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of York) Scientists are to study a group of proteins that are highly effective at killing bacteria and which could hold the key to developing new types of antibiotics. Researchers from the Universities of York and Leeds have been awarded £3.3 million ($5.4 million) from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to find out how a family of proteins known as colicins force their way into bacterial cells before destroying them.

Virus-resistant grapevines

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) Viruses can cost winegrowers an entire harvest. If they infest the grapevines, even pesticides are often no use. What's more, these chemicals are harmful to the environment. Researchers are growing plants that produce antibodies against the viruses and are thus immune.

All in sight

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) A new measurement system for the detection of whales is used for the first time on board of the research vessel Polarstern. Visual sightings of whales by marine mammal observers are usually based on observations of the spout, the condensing and warm breathing cloud. It rises between one meter and ten meters over the water surface and remains visible for only a few seconds. A thermal imaging camera now uses the heat of this spout.

Rampant helper syndrome

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) The Archaea are very primitive single-celled organisms, sometimes living under extreme conditions. Some species produce methane with the help of deazaflavin cofactor. Researchers of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat in Munich have shown that this small molecule is also widespread among higher organisms, where it helps to repair damaged DNA.

Printable batteries

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) For a long time, batteries were bulky and heavy. Now, a new cutting-edge battery is revolutionizing the field. It is thinner than a millimeter, lighter than a gram, and can be produced cost-effectively through a printing process.

NASA's Fermi Telescope reveals a population of radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsars

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of California - Santa Cruz) A new class of pulsars detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is solving the mystery of previously unidentified gamma-ray sources and helping scientists understand the mechanisms behind pulsar emissions.

Gene's novel role may provide key to treating liver and neurodegenerative diseases

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore) Singapore scientists have made a novel discovery about how gene, "Fas-apoptosis inhibitory molecule", protects both immune and liver cells from programmed cell death. Their research is published in Cell Death and Differentiation.

Pinpointing origin of gamma rays from a supermassive black hole

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Washington University in St. Louis) An international collaboration of 390 scientists reports the discovery of an outburst of very-high-energy gamma radiation from the giant radio galaxy Messier 87, accompanied by a strong rise of the radio flux measured from the direct vicinity of its super-massive black hole. The combined results give first experimental evidence that particles are accelerated to extremely high energies of tera electron Volt in the immediate vicinity of a supermassive black hole and then emit the observed gamma rays.

VLBA locates superenergetic bursts near giant black hole

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(National Radio Astronomy Observatory) Combining gamma-ray telescopes with the supersharp radio 'vision' of the Very Long Baseline Array showed astronomers the location from which very-high-energy gamma rays are emerging from the core ot the giant galaxy M87.

MIT researchers find new actions of neurochemicals

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(McGovern Institute for Brain Research) Although the tiny roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans has only 302 neurons in its entire nervous system, studies of this simple animal have significantly advanced our understanding of human brain function because it shares many genes and neurochemical signaling molecules with humans. Now MIT researchers have found novel C. elegans neurochemical receptors, the discovery of which could lead to new therapeutic targets for psychiatric disorders if similar receptors are found in humans.

Researchers unite to distribute quantum keys

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Institute of Physics) Researchers from across Europe have united to build the largest quantum key distribution network ever built. The efforts of 41 research and industrial organizations were realized as secure, quantum encrypted information was sent over an eight node, mesh network.

Existing Parkinson's disease drug may fight drug-resistant TB

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of California - San Diego) Existing drugs used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease could be repositioned for use in the treatment of extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis, which kills about 2 million people each year, according to a study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego. The rise of these strains of TB throughout the world, including industrialized countries, poses a great threat to human health.

Alzheimer's research yields potential drug target

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of California - Santa Barbara) Scientists at UC Santa Barbara and several other institutions have found laboratory evidence that a cluster of peptides may be the toxic agent in Alzheimer's disease. Scientists say the discovery may lead to new drugs for the disease.

News media registration open for 49th ICAAC, Sept. 12-15, 2009, San Francisco

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(American Society for Microbiology) News media registration for the annual infectious disease meeting of the American Society for Microbiology is now open. The 49th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy will be held Sept. 12-15, 2009, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Nanotechnology may increase longevity of dental fillings

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Medical College of Georgia) Tooth-colored fillings may be more attractive than silver ones, but the bonds between the white filling and the tooth quickly age and degrade. A Medical College of Georgia researcher hopes a new nanotechnology technique will extend the fillings' longevity.

Axel Ullrich named winner of 2009 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Porter Novelli) Johnson & Johnson announced that Axel Ullrich, Ph.D., director of the Department of Molecular Biology at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany, whose discoveries have led to novel cancer therapies including Herceptin (trastuzumab), is the winner of the 2009 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. An independent committee of world-renowned scientists selected Dr. Ullrich, who on Sept. 8 will receive a $100,000 prize during a ceremony in Beerse, Belgium.

Astronomer's new guide to the galaxy: Largest map of cold dust revealed

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(ESO) Astronomers have unveiled an unprecedented new atlas of the inner regions of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, peppered with thousands of previously undiscovered dense knots of cold cosmic dust -- the potential birthplaces of new stars. Made using observations from the APEX telescope in Chile, this survey is the largest map of cold dust so far, and will prove an invaluable map for observations made with the forthcoming ALMA telescope, as well as the recently launched ESA Herschel space telescope.