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Researchers use peels of apples and tomatoes to purify water

One of the most crucial problems affecting the world today is the scarcity of potable water. In a bid to make clean water available at low cost, Mr Ramakrishna Mallampati, a PhD candidate at the National University of Singapore, experimented with water treatment techniques using materials that are easily available, and came up with novel ways to purify water using the peels of apples and tomatoes.

22 Jul 2013

Weeds derived from crop plant pose special challenges for modern farming

The evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould once asked whether the living world would be different "if the tape were played twice." If there were a duplicate Earth evolving quietly beside ours, would we observe the emergence of creatures like ourselves and of plants and anaimals familiar to us, or would the cast of characters be entirely different?

22 Jul 2013

Researchers discover new functions for PTPN22 gene linked with autoimmune disease

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified infection-fighting and inflammation-suppressing functions for a gene associated with human autoimmune disease.

20 Jul 2013

Metabolomics tools predict who can benefit from treatment with certain antidepressants

Duke Medicine researchers have identified biochemical changes in people taking antidepressants - but only in those whose depression improves. These changes occur in a neurotransmitter pathway that is connected to the pineal gland, the part of the endocrine system that controls the sleep cycle, suggesting an added link between sleep, depression and treatment outcomes.

19 Jul 2013

HemoShear announces milestone in development of predictive drug safety systems

HemoShear, LLC, a leading developer of human-relevant systems for drug development and discovery, today announced an important milestone in the development of systems that predict safety of new drugs and chemicals.

19 Jul 2013

Scientists develop iKnife that helps surgeons identify cancerous tissues

Scientists have developed an "intelligent knife" that can tell surgeons immediately whether the tissue they are cutting is cancerous or not.

18 Jul 2013

Exposure to PFC may increase risk of mild hypothyroidism in women

Exposure to perfluorinated chemicals is linked to changes in thyroid function and may raise the risk of mild hypothyroidism in women, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

18 Jul 2013

Modified forms of bisphenol A found to alter hormone signaling in new, disturbing ways

For years, scientists have been worried about bisphenol A. The chemical is known as an "endocrine disruptor," a substance that interferes with the body's hormone signaling system, and it's found in everything from plastic drink bottles to the linings of food and drink cans to the thermal paper used for cash register receipts - not to mention the urine of 92.6 percent of Americans over the age of six.

18 Jul 2013

Long-term cannabis use, dopamine and motivation: an interview with Dr Michael Bloomfield, Department of Medicine at Imperial

We classified ‘long-term’ cannabis use as being regular, at least weekly, cannabis use for over 12 months. This is the period of time that’s used in the DSM-IV psychiatric diagnostic manual to classify substance use disorders. In our study the average duration of at least weekly use was just over four and a half years.

17 Jul 2013

Researchers discover that APOBEC3B is important cancer mutagen

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered that a human antiviral enzyme causes DNA mutations that lead to several forms of cancer.

15 Jul 2013

Urocortin molecule protects cells from osteoarthritis, say researchers

UK scientists have found a naturally occurring molecule in the body which may have important consequences for treating osteoarthritis. Researchers from The University of Manchester and the University of Westminster have found that the molecule, known as Urocortin, protects cells in the joints from being destroyed.

From The University of Manchester 12 Jul 2013

State highlights: Disabled at risk at Calif. facilities, audit finds; Advocates push for single policy for kids' medical, dental coverage in exchange plans; Ga. maternal mortality

Californians with developmental disabilities who are cared for at state facilities are being put at risk by outdated policies and inadequate investigations of abuse, the state auditor's office said Tuesday. Allegations that residents have been raped, shot with stun guns and otherwise abused have not been acted on satisfactorily, auditors found. The California Department of Developmental Services cares for 1,480 severely disabled people in five facilities throughout the state (McGreevy, 7/9).

11 Jul 2013

New low-cost method of in-vitro fertilization may help infertile couples in developing countries

A new low-cost method of in-vitro fertilization developed at the University of Colorado Boulder that performed successfully in recent human clinical trials in Belgium may help thousands of infertile couples in developing countries.

9 Jul 2013

Adverse fetal growth, exposure to maternal smoking correlated with lower measures of sperm quality

Studies over the past 20 years have suggested (though not unequivocally confirmed) that semen quality is in decline, reflected most evidently in falling sperm counts and reduced sperm motility.

8 Jul 2013

Risk of implantation failure, lower yield of oocytes linked to higher levels of urinary phthalates

Phthalates are among a group of industrial chemicals shown in some studies to have adverse effects on reproductive health and development, particularly in the male. As such, they have been collectively defined as "endocrine disruptors", and proposed as one of several possible environmental exposures responsible for a decline in fertility.

8 Jul 2013

Researchers fabricate nanotweezers that could be used to control and regulate enzymes

In new research, Hao Yan and his colleagues at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute describe a pair of tweezers shrunk down to an astonishingly tiny scale. When the jaws of these tools are in the open position, the distance between the two arms is about 16 nanometers-over 30,000 times smaller than a single grain of sand.

5 Jul 2013

Research unravels a novel means of communication that allows bacteria to resist antibiotic treatment

New research from Western University unravels a novel means of communication that allows bacteria such as Burkholderia cenocepacia (B. cenocepacia) to resist antibiotic treatment. B. cenocepacia is an environmental bacterium that causes devastating infections in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) or with compromised immune systems.

4 Jul 2013

New mechanism triggers chronic inflammation in Alzheimer's, atherosclerosis and type-2 diabetes

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have discovered a mechanism that triggers chronic inflammation in Alzheimer's, atherosclerosis and type-2 diabetes. The results, published today in Nature Immunology, suggest a common biochemical thread to multiple diseases and point the way to a new class of therapies that could treat chronic inflammation in these non-infectious diseases without crippling the immune system.

2 Jul 2013

Increased expression of Scara1 protein might impede progression of Alzheimer's disease: Study

Identification of a protein that appears to play an important role in the immune system's removal of amyloid beta (A-beta) protein from the brain could lead to a new treatment strategy for Alzheimer's disease. The report from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has been published online in Nature Communications.

2 Jul 2013

Arizona State University physicist explains new theory of cancer

With death rates from cancer have remained largely unchanged over the past 60 years, a physicist is trying to shed more light on the disease with a very different theory of its origin that traces cancer back to the dawn of multicellularity more than a billion years ago.

1 Jul 2013

Chemicals News and Research

Researchers use peels of apples and tomatoes to purify water

Weeds derived from crop plant pose special challenges for modern farming

Researchers discover new functions for PTPN22 gene linked with autoimmune disease

Metabolomics tools predict who can benefit from treatment with certain antidepressants

HemoShear announces milestone in development of predictive drug safety systems

Scientists develop iKnife that helps surgeons identify cancerous tissues

Exposure to PFC may increase risk of mild hypothyroidism in women

Modified forms of bisphenol A found to alter hormone signaling in new, disturbing ways

Long-term cannabis use, dopamine and motivation: an interview with Dr Michael Bloomfield, Department of Medicine at Imperial

Researchers discover that APOBEC3B is important cancer mutagen

Urocortin molecule protects cells from osteoarthritis, say researchers

State highlights: Disabled at risk at Calif. facilities, audit finds; Advocates push for single policy for kids' medical, dental coverage in exchange plans; Ga. maternal mortality

New low-cost method of in-vitro fertilization may help infertile couples in developing countries

Adverse fetal growth, exposure to maternal smoking correlated with lower measures of sperm quality

Risk of implantation failure, lower yield of oocytes linked to higher levels of urinary phthalates

Researchers fabricate nanotweezers that could be used to control and regulate enzymes

Research unravels a novel means of communication that allows bacteria to resist antibiotic treatment

New mechanism triggers chronic inflammation in Alzheimer's, atherosclerosis and type-2 diabetes

Increased expression of Scara1 protein might impede progression of Alzheimer's disease: Study

Arizona State University physicist explains new theory of cancer

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