MedWorm: Biochemistry Top 20

Biodiesel production from integration between reaction and separation system: reactive distillation process.

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:16:05 +0100

In this study, the experimental design was used to optimize the following process variables: the catalyst concentration (from 0.5 wt.% to 1.5 wt.%), the ethanol/soybean oil molar ratio (from 3:1 to 9:1). The reactive column reflux rate was 83 ml/min, and the reaction time was 6 min. PMID: 20221864 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology)

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Light regime characterization in an airlift photobioreactor for production of microalgae with high starch content.

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:16:08 +0100

Authors: Fernandes BD, Dragone GM, Teixeira JA, Vicente AA The slow development of microalgal biotechnology is due to the failure in the design of large-scale photobioreactors (PBRs) where light energy is efficiently utilized. In this work, both the quality and the amount of light reaching a given point of the PBR were determined and correlated with cell density, light path length, and PBR geometry. This was made for two different geometries of the downcomer of an airlift PBR using optical fiber technology that allows to obtain information about quantitative and qualitative aspects of light patterns. This is important since the ability of microalgae to use the energy of photons is different, depending on the wavelength of the radiation. The results show that the circular geometry allow...

Pluripotent plasticity of stem cells and liver repopulation

Cell Biochemistry and Function — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Different types of stem cells have a role in liver regeneration or fibrous repair during and after several liver diseases. Otherwise, the origin of hepatic and/or extra-hepatic stem cells in reactive liver repopulation is under controversy. The ability of the human body to self-repair and replace the cells and tissues of some organs is often evident. It has been estimated that complete renewal of liver tissue takes place in about a year. Replacement of lost liver tissues is accomplished by proliferation of mature hepatocytes, hepatic oval stem cells differentiation, and sinusoidal cells as support. Hepatic oval cells display a distinct phenotype and have been shown to be a bipotential progenitor of two types of epithelial cells found in the liver, hepatocytes, and bile ductular cells. In g...

Aluminium Adjuvants In Vaccinations: How Do They Really Work?

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0100

An imminent publication in Trends in Immunology by a leading researcher in the bioinorganic chemistry of aluminium, Dr Christopher Exley, Reader in Bioinorganic Chemistry at The Birchall Centre, Keele University in Staffordshire, has now gone some way to giving the fullest possible explanation of how aluminium adjuvants work in boosting the immune response to vaccination... (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

Downstream Processes Of Ion Channel Inactivation Revealed By New Studies

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0100

Two studies by researchers at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine reveal new details of the mechanisms of ion channel inactivation. The papers appear in the March issue of The Journal of General Physiology (http://www.jgp.org). After opening, many ion channels spontaneously close by inactivation, a process distinct from that involved in opening... (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

The Discovery of Novel Experimental Therapies for Inflammatory Arthritis

Mediators of Inflammation — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:18:55 +0100

Conventional and biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs have revolutionized the medical therapy of inflammatory arthritis. However, it remains unclear as to what can be done to treat immune-mediated chronic inflammation after patients become refractory to these therapies or develop serious side-effects and/or infections forcing drug withdrawal. Because of these concerns it is imperative that novel targets be continuously identified and experimental strategies designed to test potential arthritis interventions in vitro, but more importantly, in well-validated animal models of inflammatory arthritis. Over the past few years, sphingosine-1-phosphate, interleukin-7 receptor, spleen tyrosine kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase, mitogen-activated protein kinase 5/p38 kinase reg...

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Cause Of Destructive Inflammations Discovered

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:00:00 +0100

The signaling molecule CD95L, known as "death messenger," causes an inflammatory process in injured tissue after spinal cord injuries and prevents its healing. This discovery was published by scientists of the German Cancer Research Center. In mice, the researchers found out that if they switch off CD95L, the injured spinal cord heals and the animals regain better ability to move... (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

Typhoid Fever Bacteria Collect On Gallstones To Perpetuate Disease

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:00:00 +0100

A new study suggests that the bacteria that cause typhoid fever collect in tiny but persistent communities on gallstones, making the infection particularly hard to fight in so-called "carriers" - people who have the disease but show no symptoms... (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

Dry Winters Linked To Seasonal Outbreaks Of Influenza

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:00:00 +0100

The seasonal increase of influenza has long baffled scientists, but a new study published this week in PLoS Biology has found that seasonal changes of absolute humidity are the apparent underlying cause of these wintertime peaks. The study also found that the onset of outbreaks might be encouraged by anomalously dry weather conditions, at least in temperate regions... (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

Cyclodextrins: An Overview of the Complexation of Pharmaceutical Proteins.

Current Protein and Peptide Science — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Authors: Varca GH, Andréo-Filho N, Lopes PS, Ferraz HG Cyclodextrins are oligosaccharides, specifically cyclic alpha-1,4-D-glucose oligomers, that possess a cone-like shape resulting in a hydrophobic inner cavity capable of forming complexes with several guest molecules in a hydrophilic matrix. This capability has led to an extensive investigation into cyclodextrin applications in several different substrates with the purpose of overcoming limitations, such as solubility issues, physical degradation and sensitivity to solvents, in guest substances. Researchers have recently described successful interactions between cyclodextrins and proteins, such as enzymes, peptides and amino acids. These complex biomolecules consist of potent active ingredients and are employed in several indus...

Glycosylation of liver acute-phase proteins in pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis

Proteomics. Clinical Applications — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Conclusions and clinical relevance: Changes in APP SLex and branching are probably associated with an inflammatory response because they were detected in both advanced PaC and CP patients and these conditions give rise to inflammation. On the contrary, the increase in APP core fucosylation could be cancer associated and the presence of this glycoform may give an advantage to the tumour. (Source: Proteomics. Clinical Applications)

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Scientists Gain New Understanding Of Disease-Causing Bacteria

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:00:00 +0100

A team of scientists from The Forsyth Institute, the University of Connecticut Health Center, the CDC and the Wadsworth Center, have used state-of-the-art technology to elucidate the molecular architecture of Treponema pallidum, the bacterium which causes syphilis. The previously unknown detailed structure of the bacteria can now be shown in three dimensions... (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

New Way To Control Disease-Spreading Mosquitoes: Make Them Hold Their Urine

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0100

Cornell researchers have found a protein that may lead to a new way to control mosquitoes that spread dengue fever, yellow fever and other diseases when they feed on humans: Prevent them from urinating as they feed on blood. The work may lead to the development of new insecticides to disrupt the mosquito's renal system, which contributes to a mosquito's survival after feeding on blood... (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

Medtronic Chairman And CEO Bill Hawkins Elected American Institute Of Medical And Biological Engineering Fellow

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 08:00:00 +0100

Medtronic, Inc., (NYSE: MDT), announced William A. Hawkins, chairman and CEO, has been elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). AIMBE Fellows are recognized for their outstanding achievements in medical and biological engineering. A formal induction ceremony was held at the Institute's 19th Annual Event in Washington, D.C., Feb. 21-23, 2010... (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

Preventing Or Reversing Inflammation After Heart Attack, Stroke May Require 2-Pronged Approach

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0100

Researchers at Albany Medical College are releasing results of a study this week that they say will help refocus the search for new drug targets aimed at preventing or reversing the devastating tissue inflammation that results after heart attack and stroke. In the March 5 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, lead author Alejandro P... (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

'World's Most Useful Tree' Provides Low-Cost Water Purification Method For Developing World

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:00:00 +0100

A low-cost water purification technique published in Current Protocols in Microbiology could help drastically reduce the incidence of waterborne disease in the developing world. The procedure, which uses seeds from the Moringa oleifera tree, can produce a 90.00% to 99... (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

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Engineering A New Way To Study Hepatitis C

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:00:00 +0100

Researchers at MIT and Rockefeller University have successfully grown hepatitis C virus in otherwise healthy liver cells in the laboratory, an advance that could allow scientists to develop and test new treatments for the disease. About 200 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C, which can lead to liver failure or cancer, and existing drugs are not always effective... (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

Yale Researchers Discover Legionnaire Microbe's Tricks

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:00:00 +0100

Yale University researchers have shed new light how bacteria like the ones that cause Legionnaires' disease and Q-fever raise such havoc in human patients. In order to survive, the gram-negative bacteria use genes that have evolved in tandem with ones in their hosts to essentially disarm immune system cells trying to kill them, the scientists report Friday in the journal Science. (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

Better, Cheaper, DIY Disease Weapon Invented By Mosquito Hunters

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:00:00 +0100

Emory University researchers believe they have come up with the cheapest, most efficient way yet to monitor adult mosquitoes and the deadly diseases they carry, from malaria to West Nile Virus. Emory has filed a provisional patent on the Prokopack mosquito aspirator, but the inventors have provided simple instructions for how to make it in the Journal of Medical Entomology... (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)

Mosquito Repellents May Be Developed With The Help Of Natural Odors

Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:00:00 +0100

Entomologists at the University of California, Riverside working on fruit flies in the lab have discovered a novel class of compounds that could pave the way for developing inexpensive and safe mosquito repellents for combating West Nile virus and other deadly tropical diseases. When fruit flies undergo stress, they emit carbon dioxide (CO2) that serves as a warning to other fruit flies that danger or predators could be nearby. (Source: Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today)