Chemistry posts
- September 6, 2016
- 01:26 PM
- 11 views
Body heat as a power source
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Electronics integrated into textiles are gaining in popularity: Systems like smartphone displays in a sleeve or sensors to detect physical performance in athletic wear have already been produced. The main problem with these systems tends to be the lack of a comfortable, equally wearable source of power. Chinese scientists are now aiming to obtain the necessary energy from body heat by introducing a flexible, wearable thermocell based on two different gel electrolytes.
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Yang, P., Liu, K., Chen, Q., Mo, X., Zhou, Y., Li, S., Feng, G., & Zhou, J. (2016) Wearable Thermocells Based on Gel Electrolytes for the Utilization of Body Heat. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201606314
- September 5, 2016
- 02:34 PM
- 33 views
Drugs in the water? Don't blame the students
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
With nearly sixty percent of American adults now taking prescription medications--from antidepressants to cholesterol treatments--there is growing concern about how many drugs are flowing through wastewater treatment facilities and into rivers and lakes. Research confirms that pharmaceutical pollution can cause damage to fish and other ecological problems--and may pose risks to human health too.
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Vatovec, C., Phillips, P., Van Wagoner, E., Scott, T., & Furlong, E. (2016) Investigating dynamic sources of pharmaceuticals: Demographic and seasonal use are more important than down-the-drain disposal in wastewater effluent in a University City setting. Science of The Total Environment. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.199
- September 1, 2016
- 06:52 AM
- 97 views
Roger Tsien – the scientist that colored our research
by Gal Haimovich in Green Fluorescent Blog
Roger Tsien died a few days ago, at the relatively young age of 64. He was a UCSD scientist, a Nobel laureate and he was one of the first to see the significance and usefulness of GFP. I’ve never met him. … Continue reading →... Read more »
Heim, R., Prasher, D., & Tsien, R. (1994) Wavelength mutations and posttranslational autoxidation of green fluorescent protein. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 91(26), 12501-12504. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.91.26.12501
- August 13, 2016
- 02:43 PM
- 213 views
Intestinal flora effects drug response
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Intestinal flora has multiple influences on human health, but researchers have revealed that it is also likely to have an effect on the body's response to drugs. Recent research suggests that changes in the intestinal flora, caused by antibacterial and antibiotic drugs or individual differences between people, may have an effect on a person's response to drugs including side effects. The research focused on the changes in proteins due to the condition of intestinal flora that affect th........ Read more »
Kuno, T., Hirayama-Kurogi, M., Ito, S., & Ohtsuki, S. (2016) Effect of Intestinal Flora on Protein Expression of Drug-Metabolizing Enzymes and Transporters in the Liver and Kidney of Germ-Free and Antibiotics-Treated Mice. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 13(8), 2691-2701. DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.6b00259
- July 14, 2016
- 03:58 PM
- 396 views
Organic computers are coming
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Move over silicon, tomorrow's computers could be made of something completely different. A team of international researchers managed to find a molecule that, to their opinion, could give the impetus to the development of organic electronics.
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Karpov, Y., Erdmann, T., Raguzin, I., Al-Hussein, M., Binner, M., Lappan, U., Stamm, M., Gerasimov, K., Beryozkina, T., Bakulev, V.... (2016) High Conductivity in Molecularly p-Doped Diketopyrrolopyrrole-Based Polymer: The Impact of a High Dopant Strength and Good Structural Order. Advanced Materials. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201506295
- July 6, 2016
- 11:29 AM
- 380 views
Fish May Lose Their Jelly Friends in a Changing Ocean
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
In the open ocean, it's good to have friends. Some young fish like to buddy up with stinging jellies to stay safe from predators. Hiding under the shelter of a jellyfish's bell, they can grow up unharmed (as long as they dodge its tentacles). These fish include some species that humans rely on for food. But in a warming ocean, that buddy system may fall apart.
Many types of fish take advantage of hop-on jelly trolleys. Ivan Nagelkerken, a marine biologist at the University of Adelaide in ... Read more »
Nagelkerken I, Pitt KA, Rutte MD, & Geertsma RC. (2016) Ocean acidification alters fish-jellyfish symbiosis. Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society, 283(1833). PMID: 27358374
- June 13, 2016
- 01:43 PM
- 336 views
Experimental antibiotic treats deadly MRSA infection
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
The antibiotic arms race is on, while we are rushing to find new antibiotics, bacteria are working on finding ways around them. With that in mind, a new experimental antibiotic developed by a team of scientists successfully treats the deadly MRSA infection and restores the efficacy of a commonly prescribed antibiotic that has become ineffective against MRSA.
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Kaul M, Mark L, Zhang Y, Parhi AK, Lyu YL, Pawlak J, Saravolatz S, Saravolatz LD, Weinstein MP, LaVoie EJ.... (2015) TXA709, an FtsZ-Targeting Benzamide Prodrug with Improved Pharmacokinetics and Enhanced In Vivo Efficacy against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, 59(8), 4845-55. PMID: 26033735
- June 10, 2016
- 11:50 AM
- 316 views
Beetle Moms Make Anti-Aphrodisiac to Keep Dads Focused on Parenting
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
"Not tonight, honey," says the female burying beetle, chewing up a mouthful of mouse carcass before spitting it into the mouth of a begging larva.
For the first few days of their babies' lives, burying beetles co-parent. They devote themselves to keeping their squirming larvae alive. That means mating and laying more eggs would be a waste of energy. And to make sure males get that message, females emit a pheromone that turns them off.
"It is quite surprising," says University of Ulm be... Read more »
Engel KC, Stökl J, Schweizer R, Vogel H, Ayasse M, Ruther J, & Steiger S. (2016) A hormone-related female anti-aphrodisiac signals temporary infertility and causes sexual abstinence to synchronize parental care. Nature communications, 11035. PMID: 27002429
- May 12, 2016
- 05:01 PM
- 409 views
The Smell of the Cinema: Human Chemical Signals?
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
The air in a cinema contains a chemical cocktail emitted by the audience - and the emotional tone of the movie influences the molecular composition of the cloud.
That's according to a striking set of results from researchers Johnathan Williams and colleagues who took air samples from two 230-seater screens of a cinema in Germany over a period of two weeks.
Here's an example of the chemical trace associated with shows of the movie "The Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire", featuring three... Read more »
Williams J, Stönner C, Wicker J, Krauter N, Derstroff B, Bourtsoukidis E, Klüpfel T, & Kramer S. (2016) Cinema audiences reproducibly vary the chemical composition of air during films, by broadcasting scene specific emissions on breath. Scientific reports, 25464. PMID: 27160439
- May 9, 2016
- 01:34 PM
- 362 views
The Princess IS the Frog (A Guest Post)
by Miss Behavior in The Scorpion and the Frog
By Hayley TrzinskiImage by Hayley TrzinskiThe Princess and the Frog is a very fun and imaginative children’s story… but not when pesticides are involved. Have you ever wondered how dangerous pesticides can be? Well, pesticides can harm more than just pests and weeds, and in the case of frogs, many pesticides and herbicides are causing problems. Atrazine, a chemical commonly used as an herbicide, can cause reproduction in male African clawed frogs to be impossible. In some cases, atrazine i........ Read more »
Hayes, T., Khoury, V., Narayan, A., Nazir, M., Park, A., Brown, T., Adame, L., Chan, E., Buchholz, D., Stueve, T.... (2010) Atrazine induces complete feminization and chemical castration in male African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(10), 4612-4617. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0909519107
Mnif, W., Hassine, A., Bouaziz, A., Bartegi, A., Thomas, O., & Roig, B. (2011) Effect of Endocrine Disruptor Pesticides: A Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 8(12), 2265-2303. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph8062265
- April 6, 2016
- 05:02 PM
- 555 views
Uncovering the genetic elements that drive regeneration
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Lose a hand or a leg? It will grow back… oh wait, it won’t, but why not? Trace our evolution — long before the shedding of gills or the development of opposable thumbs — and you will likely find a common ancestor with the amazing ability to regenerate lost body parts. There is theoretically no reason why we shouldn’t be able to regenerate, not quite like in the movie Deadpool, but come on, would you really complain at that point?
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Kang, J., Hu, J., Karra, R., Dickson, A., Tornini, V., Nachtrab, G., Gemberling, M., Goldman, J., Black, B., & Poss, K. (2016) Modulation of tissue repair by regeneration enhancer elements. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature17644
- April 4, 2016
- 03:57 PM
- 416 views
Your brain has an altered response to desirable foods
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Hungry? Well, let’s face it, that pizza looks much better than the salad. Don’t deny it salad lovers, we all know behind closed doors you look at plenty of food porn to satiate your desires. Understanding the motivations that drive us to eat is important when we talk about weight loss and how we attempt to structure diets. Now a new study shows that for overweight individuals, the brain responses differently to desirable foods., but hold that thought, because there is hope.
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Farr, O., Sofopoulos, M., Tsoukas, M., Dincer, F., Thakkar, B., Sahin-Efe, A., Filippaios, A., Bowers, J., Srnka, A., Gavrieli, A.... (2016) GLP-1 receptors exist in the parietal cortex, hypothalamus and medulla of human brains and the GLP-1 analogue liraglutide alters brain activity related to highly desirable food cues in individuals with diabetes: a crossover, randomised, placebo-controlled. Diabetologia. DOI: 10.1007/s00125-016-3874-y
- March 29, 2016
- 04:31 PM
- 510 views
Carb-loading and your heart, you may want to put the pasta down…
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
So if you are one of the bodybuilders, powerlifters, marathon runners, or just people who like to binge-eat every now and then — no judgment all you can eat pizza day is a thing I’m told telling myself — there is some bad news. If you like to preload carbs like they are the magic bullet to your workout woes, you may want to rethink it because according to a new study, it can have an acute and detrimental effect on heart function.
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Arora, P., Wu, C., Hamid, T., Arora, G., Agha, O., Allen, K., Tainsh, R., Hu, D., Ryan, R., Domian, I.... (2016) Acute Metabolic Influences on the Natriuretic Peptide System in Humans. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 67(7), 804-812. DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2015.11.049
- March 23, 2016
- 03:00 PM
- 574 views
Prozac in the Water Makes Fighting Fish More Mellow
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
Had Teresa Dzieweczynski chosen to publish her recent findings as an updated children's classic, rather than as a research paper, she could have titled it If You Give a Fish an Antidepressant. The book would probably be less charming than If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. But it would also be, unfortunately, more realistic. Our pharmaceuticals are steadily trickling into the homes of fish and other animals. And—as the hero of the original book could have told us, his house in disarray aft........ Read more »
Dzieweczynski, T., Campbell, B., & Kane, J. (2016) Dose-dependent fluoxetine effects on boldness in male Siamese fighting fish. Journal of Experimental Biology, 219(6), 797-804. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.132761
- March 17, 2016
- 03:47 PM
- 540 views
Preventing Alzheimer’s, with an implant
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Alzheimer's has been a losing battle, sure we can fight back with drugs, but that still just prolongs the inevitable. With that said we can all hope this research pans out, to something meaningful. In a cutting-edge treatment for Alzheimer's disease, EPFL scientists have developed an implantable capsule that can turn the patient's immune system against the disease. Even better, the implant is subdural, not intracranial.
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Lathuilière, A., Laversenne, V., Astolfo, A., Kopetzki, E., Jacobsen, H., Stampanoni, M., Bohrmann, B., Schneider, B., & Aebischer, P. (2016) A subcutaneous cellular implant for passive immunization against amyloid-β reduces brain amyloid and tau pathologies. Brain. DOI: 10.1093/brain/aww036
- March 12, 2016
- 07:57 AM
- 535 views
Science teachers could be obstacle to climate change education
by Jonathan Trinastic in Goodnight Earth
Climate change will continue to affect future generations, but are our children receiving accurate information about it? A new survey suggests not - here's a look and why and some possible solutions... Read more »
Plutzer, E., McCaffrey, M., Hannah, A., Rosenau, J., Berbeco, M., & Reid, A. (2016) Climate confusion among U.S. teachers. Science, 351(6274), 664-665. DOI: 10.1126/science.aab3907
- March 10, 2016
- 02:50 PM
- 507 views
Alzheimer’s on and now Alzheimer’s off?
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Alzheimer's disease, is anything more frustrating than seeing someone -- who otherwise looks healthy -- start to forget who you are? Worse than that, we don't know exactly what causes Alzheimer's disease, or how to stop it. Well actually that might be changing. Don't get too excited, because we've had false starts before, but an international group of scientists have succeeded in sorting out the mechanism of Alzheimer's disease development and possibly distinguished its key trigger.
... Read more »
Istrate, A., Kozin, S., Zhokhov, S., Mantsyzov, A., Kechko, O., Pastore, A., Makarov, A., & Polshakov, V. (2016) Interplay of histidine residues of the Alzheimer’s disease Aβ peptide governs its Zn-induced oligomerization. Scientific Reports, 21734. DOI: 10.1038/srep21734
- March 3, 2016
- 08:32 AM
- 618 views
Identifying a shooter by their snot
by Rosin Cerate in Rosin Cerate
I'm Canadian and didn't grow up on a farm or anywhere particularly rural, so it shouldn't be surprising to learn I've never fired a gun. Furthermore, guns are very far down on the list of things I'm interested in learning more about. Yet sometimes tooling around the scientific literature leads to unexpected topics, such as the forensic analysis of gunshot residue. Turns out there's a neat bit of biology involved, and thus we've got ourselves a quick blog post.... Read more »
Aliste M, & Chávez LG. (2016) Analysis of gunshot residues as trace in nasal mucus by GFAAS. Forensic Science International, 14-18. PMID: 26874050
- February 29, 2016
- 07:30 AM
- 476 views
I love thial-S-oxides so much I cry
by Shane Caldwell in Helical Translations
What exactly is behind the tear-inducing chemical in onions?... Read more »
Eady CC, Kamoi T, Kato M, Porter NG, Davis S, Shaw M, Kamoi A, & Imai S. (2008) Silencing onion lachrymatory factor synthase causes a significant change in the sulfur secondary metabolite profile. Plant physiology, 147(4), 2096-106. PMID: 18583530
- February 25, 2016
- 03:05 PM
- 504 views
Grow, coral, grow!
by dominicwhite in Two Degrees or Under
I was just reading this fascinating article published online yesterday in Nature, called “Reversal of ocean acidification enhances net coral reef calcification“. The study is investigating what effect ocean acidification is having on reefs, a tricky problem as other confounding...... Read more »
Albright, R., Caldeira, L., Hosfelt, J., Kwiatkowski, L., Maclaren, J., Mason, B., Nebuchina, Y., Ninokawa, A., Pongratz, J., Ricke, K.... (2016) Reversal of ocean acidification enhances net coral reef calcification. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature17155
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