http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Understanding how mixtures of proteins assemble and how to manipulate them in the laboratory has many exciting biomedical applications, such as providing scaffolds for the engineering of tissues that can replace diseased or damaged human tissues. Now, research published by Cell Press in the April 20th issue of Biophysical Journal, reveals new information about the kinetics of protein assembly and demonstrates how to manipulate conditions in order to provide different distributions of protein fiber lengths. http://phys.org/news190984889.html Chemistry Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:00:21 EST news190984889 A new study shows that when it comes to networks of protein fibers, individual fibers play a substantial role in effectively strengthening an entire network of fibers. The research, published by Cell Press in the April 20th issue of the Biophysical Journal, describes a mechanism that explains how individual fibrin fibers subjected to significant strain can respond by stiffening to resist stretch and helping to equitably distribute the strain load across the network. http://phys.org/news190984844.html Physics Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:30:11 EST news190984844 Until now there were only indirect evidence of the transfer of thyroid hormones from mother to fetus through the placenta during pregnancy. That event is very important because the maternal thyroid hormones appear to play a key role in the development of the nervous system and other organs of the fetus; so it's true that in case of maternal thyroid disease, such hypothyroidism, have a direct bearing on the unborn child with reduction, also significant, to its Q.I. That passage of maternal thyroid hormones to the fetus was clarified through a study, based on a transgenic mouse model, designed and built by a team of Italian researchers led by Prof. Alfredo Pontecorvi, Endocrinologist at Catholic University in Rome, Italy. http://phys.org/news190265548.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:50:02 EST news190265548 Researchers at ETH Zurich, EPF Lausanne and at the University of Fribourg have evidenced a basic general mechanism describing how filamentous proteins assemble into ribbon like structures, the so-called Amyloid fibrils. Combining experiments and theory, they could explain how denatured milk proteins assemble into ribbon like structures composed of up to five filaments. These findings are shining a surprisingly new light on the assembly of these proteins. http://phys.org/news190208821.html Medicine & Health Sun, 11 Apr 2010 13:00:06 EST news190208821 (PhysOrg.com) -- A simple cotton T-shirt may one day be converted into tougher, more comfortable body armor for soldiers or police officers. http://phys.org/news189884043.html Nanotechnology Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:35:56 EST news189884043 Wake Forest University has received the first patent for a new solar cell technology that can double the energy production of today's flat cells at a fraction of the cost. http://phys.org/news189870823.html Chemistry Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:54:01 EST news189870823 New research shows how a mutation causes a common inherited neurodegenerative disease, according to a study in the March 24 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The study shows that the mutation of a specific protein known to cause Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disrupts the movement of mitochondria, the energy-supplying machines inside each cell. The regulated movement of mitochondria along nerve cell fibers is vital to normal communication between the brain and muscles. http://phys.org/news188588581.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:43:44 EST news188588581 For more than 30 years, scientists have known that multiple sclerosis (MS) is much more common in higher latitudes than in the tropics. Because sunlight is more abundant near the equator, many researchers have wondered if the high levels of vitamin D engendered by sunlight could explain this unusual pattern of prevalence. http://phys.org/news188487865.html Medicine & Health Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:00:09 EST news188487865 A new study in the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB) identifies a cytokine signaling pathway that induces the breakdown of disused skeletal muscle. Blocking this pathway could prevent immobilized patients from losing their muscle tissue. http://phys.org/news188477117.html Medicine & Health Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:30:01 EST news188477117 Label directions for using some household pesticides are written in a way that may leave consumers with the impression that "if a little is good, more is better," according to a study presented here today at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). As a result, consumers may use excessive amounts of pesticides that could subject family members and pets to increased exposures. http://phys.org/news188484586.html Medicine & Health Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:10:06 EST news188484586 (PhysOrg.com) -- A more environmentally friendly process to treat textile fibers that are used in garments, carpets, curtains, and other applications has recently been reported by researchers from the University of Torino (Italy) in the journal ChemSusChem. The team, led by Guido Viscardi, describe how treating polymeric fibers with a low-temperature partially ionized gas increases the ability of the fibers to attract water, which is necessary to make them easier to process. http://phys.org/news187340255.html Chemistry Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:57:50 EST news187340255 (PhysOrg.com) -- Kids' inability to filter out distractions is a good thing. In fact, it's precisely what makes them such prodigious learners of language. http://phys.org/news186262325.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:32:26 EST news186262325 An international team of researchers has found that adding a humanized monoclonal antibody called daclizumab to standard treatment reduces the number of new or enlarged brain lesions in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis. This new study was published online Feb. 16, 2010, and in the March edition of the Lancet Neurology. http://phys.org/news185548358.html Medicine & Health Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:40:01 EST news185548358 Fewer African Americans than Caucasians develop multiple sclerosis (MS), statistics show, but their disease progresses more rapidly, and they don't respond as well to therapies, a new study by neurology researchers at the University at Buffalo has found. http://phys.org/news184599513.html Medicine & Health Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:50:01 EST news184599513 (PhysOrg.com) -- In an age when bacterial agents may be intentionally released as method of terrorist attack, there is an increased need for quick diagnostic methods that require limited resources and personnel. Thomas Inzana, the Tyler J. and Frances F. Young Chair of Bacteriology in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech, has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop such a diagnostic test. http://phys.org/news182536311.html Nanotechnology Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:40:02 EST news182536311 As the voyagers of the Starship Enterprise boldly went to explore new worlds week after week on Star Trek, they used a host of futuristic technologies — including tricorders, holodecks, teleportation systems and warp drives — that may have seemed almost beyond possibility to many of the shows’ (and movies’) legion of devoted viewers. But, say many scientists interviewed on a new program airing on public television, real science and technology is starting to catch up to — and sometimes even surpass — some parts of that future. http://phys.org/news179761611.html Other Sciences Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:10:08 EST news179761611 (AP) -- A Vatican researcher has rekindled the age-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, saying that faint writing on the linen proves it was the burial cloth of Jesus. Experts say the historian may be reading too much into the markings, and they stand by carbon-dating that points to the shroud being a medieval forgery. http://phys.org/news177954765.html Other Sciences Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:53:35 EST news177954765 Using a wet ethanol production method that begins by soaking corn kernels rather than grinding them, results in more gallons of ethanol and more usable co-products, giving ethanol producers a bigger bang for their buck - by about 20 percent. http://phys.org/news176996815.html Chemistry Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:47:29 EST news176996815 Inside a cramped back room at Rushford Hypersonic, a start-up headquartered in southeastern Minnesota, sits a cube-like machine that throws a mean atomic fastball. At the push of a button, the reactor hurls atoms toward a substrate material at eight times faster than the speed of sound. http://phys.org/news176637826.html Nanotechnology Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:10:02 EST news176637826 (PhysOrg.com) -- Rice University scientists today unveiled a method for the industrial-scale processing of pure carbon-nanotube fibers that could lead to revolutionary advances in materials science, power distribution and nanoelectronics. The result of a nine-year program, the method builds upon tried-and-true processes that chemical firms have used for decades to produce plastics. The research is available online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. http://phys.org/news176396559.html Nanotechnology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:04:34 EST news176396559 (PhysOrg.com) -- Carbon nanotubes are being considered for use in everything from sports equipment to medical applications, but a great deal remains unknown about whether these materials cause respiratory or other health problems. Now a collaborative study from North Carolina State University, The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences shows that inhaling these nanotubes can affect the outer lining of the lung, though the effects of long-term exposure remain unclear. http://phys.org/news175702180.html Nanotechnology Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:12:24 EST news175702180 Modern tissue engineering developed at the University of Michigan could improve the function of prosthetic hands and possibly restore the sense of touch for injured patients. http://phys.org/news174747079.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:10:01 EST news174747079 (AP) -- Scientists have reproduced the Shroud of Turin - revered as the cloth that covered Jesus in the tomb - and say the experiment proves the relic was man-made, a group of Italian debunkers claimed Monday. http://phys.org/news173977462.html Other Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:04:47 EST news173977462 (PhysOrg.com) -- Two Cornell researchers have launched iFyber LLC, which markets fabrics with embedded nanoparticles to detect explosives and dangerous chemicals or to serve as antibacterials for hospitals. http://phys.org/news172850156.html Nanotechnology Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:40:05 EST news172850156 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of archaeologists and paleobiologists has discovered flax fibers that are more than 34,000 years old, making them the oldest fibers known to have been used by humans. The fibers, discovered during systematic excavations in a cave in the Republic of Georgia, are described in this week's issue of Science. http://phys.org/news171811682.html Other Sciences Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:20:03 EST news171811682 A Medical Center scientist has been awarded a $2 million Era of Hope Scholar Research Award to study how breast cancer cells use collagen fibers to spread, and to investigate whether the process can be predicted and disrupted. http://phys.org/news171642157.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:40:02 EST news171642157 (PhysOrg.com) -- Imagine a soldier's uniform made of a special fabric that allows him to look in all directions and identify threats that are to his side or even behind him. In work that could turn such science fiction into reality, MIT researchers have developed light-detecting fibers that, when weaved into a web, act as a flexible camera. Fabric composed of these fibers could be joined to a computer that could provide information on a small display screen attached to a visor, providing the soldier greater awareness of his surroundings. http://phys.org/news166182832.html Nanotechnology Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:55:48 EST news166182832 Scientists in Delaware say they have developed a new hydrogen storage method -- carbonized chicken feather fibers -- that can hold vast amounts of hydrogen, a promising but difficult to corral fuel source, and do it at a far lower cost than other hydrogen storage systems under consideration. http://phys.org/news164977211.html Chemistry Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:00:30 EST news164977211 In the clothing industry it's common to mix natural and synthetic fibers. Take cotton and add polyester to make clothing that's soft, breathable and wrinkle free. Now researchers at the University of Washington are using the same principle for biomedical applications. Mixing chitosan, found in the shells of crabs and shrimp, with an industrial polyester creates a promising new material for the tiny tubes that support repair of a severed nerve, and could serve other medical uses. http://phys.org/news164384019.html Chemistry Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:14:43 EST news164384019 A heart muscle protein can replace its missing skeletal muscle counterpart to give mice with myopathy a long and active life, show Nowak et al. The findings will be published online on Monday, May 25, 2009 and will appear in the June 1, 2009 print issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. http://phys.org/news162465042.html Biology Mon, 25 May 2009 10:17:20 EST news162465042