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New York-A team of researchers has uncovered critical information that could help scientists understand how protein polymers interact with other self-assembling biopolymers. The research helps explain naturally occurring nano-material within cells and could one day lead to engineered bio-composites for drug delivery, artificial tissue, bio-sensing, or cancer diagnosis.

Results of this study, "Bionanocomposites: Differential Effects of Cellulose Nanocrystals on Protein Diblock Copolymers," were recently published in the American Chemical Society's BioMacromolecules. The findings were the result of a collaborative research project from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) Montclare Lab for Protein Engineering and Molecular Design under the direction of Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Jin K. Montclare.

Bionanocomposites provide a singular area of research that incorporates biology, chemistry, materials science, engineering, and nanotechnology. Medical researchers believe they hold particular promise because-unlike the materials that build today's medical implants, for example-they are biodegradable and biocompatible, not subject to rejection by the body's immune defenses. As biocomposites rarely exist isolated from other substances in nature, scientists do not yet understand how they interact with other materials such as lipids, nucleic acids, or other organic materials and on a molecular level. This study, which explored the ways in which protein polymers interact with another biopolymer, cellulose, provides the key to better understanding how biocomposite materials would interact with the human body for medical applications.

The materials analyzed were composed of bioengineered protein polymers and cellulose nanocrystals and hold promise for medical applications including non-toxic, targeted drug delivery systems. Such bionanocomposites could also be used as scaffolding for tissue growth, synthetic biomaterials, or an environmentally friendly replacement for petroleum-derived polymers currently in use.

Source: Polytechnic Institute of New York University

The common expression 'time flies when you're having fun' suggests that people's perception of duration is moderated by the impact of their emotions and the activities they are performing; in other words, emotions such as fear or sadness affect people's perception of time. Now, a study among female students suggests that visual stimuli, such as attractive or unattractive faces, can make time fly or drag.

Imagine driving along a road when suddenly an oncoming car loses control and hurtles towards you. Fear of the impending crash coupled with emotional arousal increases your 'internal clock speed' so that, if you were asked to assess the length of time available to take evasive action, you would overestimate the duration of the event. In other words, time appears to slow down.

Conversely, an unpleasant stimulus such as eating unpleasant food or viewing an unattractive face - neither of which are life-threatening stimuli - generally lead to an underestimation of duration, i.e. time flies by.

A study by Ruth Ogden of Liverpool John Moores University, School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, has strengthened the body of research evidence that demonstrates how unappealing activities appear to last for a shorter duration:

"… [W] hen confronted with a disliked or a-typical stimulus (e.g., unpleasant food or an unattractive face), time is not critically relevant to survival, and therefore processing the stimulus itself may take precedent over the processing of duration, leading to an underestimation of duration."

In theory, it is likely that perceived attractiveness will influence one's perception of duration, in a similar way to a strong emotional arousal will, because both attractive and emotional images have the potential to increase arousal and grab attention, and therefore are more distracting.

Attractiveness is used during mate selection, and facial attractiveness is assessed rapidly, increasing arousal and grabbing attention. Attractiveness also influences the way in which people are appraised by others, with attractive individuals earning more money or being perceived as more socially desirable than unattractive people. It has also been suggested that, through evolution, humans may have developed specialist attentional templates for processing certain biologically relevant stimuli (such as potential threats like angry faces or spiders).

Facial attractiveness is thought to be processed in the amygdala of the brain, and involves activation of the superior temporal sulcus, which is also activated during the evaluation of emotional faces. In addition, some studies have shown that activation of the amygdala is nonlinear, in that it responds to both attractive and unattractive faces, with less activation for neutral faces. Attractiveness could therefore affect duration estimates via either arousal or attention.

Researchers from the Sinai Center for Thrombosis Research presented findings from a Phase 2a trial substudy that examined the antiplatelet effects of CSL112, a novel apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I) infusion therapy, at the American Heart Association 2013 Scientific Sessions.

The Phase 2a study evaluated the safety and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of a single dose of CSL112 in patients with stable atherothrombotic disease on chronic dual antiplatelet therapy. Results presented by Pierluigi Tricoci, MD, PhD, MHS, Duke Clinical Research Institute showed that CSL112 increased apo A-I levels, the active component of HDL and there were no serious adverse events reported.

Further, results presented by Andreas Gille, MD, PhD, CSL Limited showed that CSL112 also enhanced key biomarkers of the early steps of reverse cholesterol transport with strong elevations in cholesterol efflux capacity observed across all CSL112 regimens.

Paul A. Gurbel, MD, Director, Sinai Center for Thrombosis Research at the Sinai Hospital of Baltimore led an important evaluation of platelet function to assess the potential antiplatelet properties of CSL112. In a separate presentation, Gurbel reported that CSL112 did not significantly influence platelet aggregation in response to arachidonic acid, adenosine diphosphate and collagen.

"CSL112 is a promising new treatment for patients with high risk cardiovascular disease," said Gurbel. "Since CSL112 had no significant influence on platelet aggregation, it is anticipated that patients should not face an increased bleeding risk while receiving this infusion therapy along with concomitant antiplatelet agents."

SOURCE LifeBridge Health

Melanoma survivors are being warned to stay vigilant about skin checks, with new research showing a high risk of a subsequent melanoma diagnosis on the same body part as the original.

Previous studies show melanoma survivors have a six to seven times higher risk of being diagnosed with a subsequent invasive melanoma when compared to the general population.

But new research from Cancer Council Queensland and the University of Queensland found the risk is greatest on the same part of the body as the original melanoma.

Importantly, the findings also show that the chance of being diagnosed with a subsequent invasive melanoma remains high irrespective of whether the first melanoma was invasive or not.

The research will be presented to health professionals and global experts at the Global Controversies and Advances in Skin Cancer Conference (GC-SC 2013) in Brisbane today.

Cancer Council Queensland spokesperson Katie Clift said the study highlighted the need for ongoing surveillance for all people previously diagnosed with melanoma, with particular attention required around the site where the original melanoma appeared.

“Melanoma survivors require regular, ongoing, all-over skin checks,” Ms Clift said.

“However, the study showed Queenslanders with melanoma have the highest risk of being diagnosed with subsequent primary invasive melanomas on the same part of the body – particularly the head.”

“For example, women diagnosed with a primary invasive melanoma on the head were 13 times more likely to be diagnosed with a subsequent invasive melanoma at the same site, when compared to other women.”

“The results also indicate the need for patients with non-invasive and early stage melanoma to be followed-up more closely.”

Cancer Council Queensland believes the findings have important implications for both public health and clinical practice.

Source: http://www.cancerqld.org.au/