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Blog – Page 11612

Researchers recently made an important discovery in protein science that will advance our understanding of the inner workings of cells. In an article published in Scientific Reports, the team said they found a critical evolutionary link between a protein’s structure and its function.

Like tiny molecular machines, proteins handle a variety of functions from transporting chemicals to breaking food down into nutrients. The vast range of protein function is possible because of their unique gene-encoded sequence of amino acids, which affects the three-dimensional shape that folded protein chains adopt.

To better understand them, researchers have sequenced and resolved a huge number of protein structures. Currently, the Protein Data Bank includes 110,000+ structures—far more than the number with known functions. Powerful bioinformatics tools assist in making correlations between the shape and purpose of a protein, but what’s been missing is a direct structure-function link, tantamount to a Rosetta stone-like key.

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Interesting read on Chemo’s impact on the brain and brain functioning known as Chemo Brain.

During and after chemotherapy, many cancer patients describe feeling a mental fog, a condition that has been dubbed “chemo brain.” Why this happens is unclear, but researchers have found a new clue to understanding this syndrome. A study in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience reports that chemotherapy in rats affects their chemical messengers dopamine and serotonin, which are associated with cognition.

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Purely tragic. Hopefully, doctors without borders or experts can assist this child.

A baby boy’s head has swollen to more than three times its normal size due to a medical condition.

Two-year-old Emon, from southern Bangladesh, has a head that weighs 20 lbs (9kg) — the same weight as an average one-year-old boy.

Continue reading “Bangladesh baby’s skull is the size of a football because of excess fluid” | >

Not surprised;

A long line of research links poverty and depression. Now, a study by Duke University scientists shows how biology might underlie the depression experienced by high-risk adolescents whose families are socio-economically disadvantaged.

The study, published May 24, 2016 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, combined genetics, brain imaging and behavioral data gathered as adolescents were followed for more than three years as part of a larger study.

The results are part of a growing body of work that may lead to biological predictors that could guide individualized depression-prevention strategies.

Continue reading “Poverty marks a gene, predicting depression” | >

Using the power of nano to solar power our homes at night.

MIT researchers have built a new experimental solar cell which could greatly enhance power efficiency. The “Shockley-Queisser’ limit is the estimated maximum efficiency of a solar cell, which is commonly about 32%; that means almost 70% of energy is wasted in the form of heat.

One way to reduce energy loss is by stacking cells. However if sunlight could be turned into heat and then be re-emitted as light, the solar cells could utilize more energy. Solar cells work best with visible light which occurs midway of the radiation spectrum. As a result the radiations with shorter and greater wavelengths usually go to waste.

The researchers at MIT have developed a structure of carbon nano-tubes that will function between the sun and solar cell. These carbon nano-tubes are very good absorbents of light (all types of radiation) and convert it to heat; heat is easier to store unlike light.

Continue reading “Nanotechnology could enable use of Solar Energy at night” | >