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. At first glance, a diagram of the complex network of genes that regulate cellular metabolism might seem hopelessly complex, and efforts to control such a system futile. http://phys.org/news224401146.html Technology Thu, 12 May 2011 06:39:22 EST news224401146 It has been linked to learning impairment, stroke and premature death. Now research from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has found that snoring associated with sleep apnoea may impair brain function more than previously thought. http://phys.org/news163245364.html Medicine & Health Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:56:44 EST news163245364 Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and collaborators at Harvard Medical School have linked a specialized protein in human muscles to the process that clears glucose out of the bloodstream, shedding light on what goes wrong in type 2 diabetes on a cellular level. http://phys.org/news162739002.html Chemistry Thu, 28 May 2009 14:17:20 EST news162739002 Variations in both milk feeding and in the weaning diet are linked to differences in growth and development, and they have independent influences on body composition in early childhood, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). http://phys.org/news162719013.html Medicine & Health Thu, 28 May 2009 08:44:06 EST news162719013 A protein that plays a key role in tumor formation, oxygen metabolism and inflammation is involved in a pathway that extends lifespan by dietary restriction. The finding, which appears in the May 22, 2009 edition of the on-line journal PLoS Genetics, provides a new understanding of how dietary restriction contributes to longevity and cancer prevention and gives scientists new targets for developing and testing drugs that could extend the healthy years of life. http://phys.org/news162215715.html Medicine & Health Fri, 22 May 2009 12:55:40 EST news162215715 A Boston University-led research team has identified the structural underpinnings of a widely-known enzyme -- acetoacetate decarboxylase (AADase) -- that was first described correctly more than 43 years ago including how it accelerates its target reaction. Until now it has never been fully explained how the reactions occur in the environment of the cell. http://phys.org/news162044237.html Chemistry Wed, 20 May 2009 13:18:09 EST news162044237 (AP) -- The statistic is shocking: Severe malnutrition and weight loss play a role in at least one in five cancer deaths. Yet nutrition too often is an afterthought until someone's already in trouble. http://phys.org/news161887503.html Medicine & Health Mon, 18 May 2009 17:46:19 EST news161887503 Being overweight or obese is a leading contributor to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and associated risk factors; however, in patients with established CVD, obesity appears to play a protective role. In fact, data suggest obese patients with heart disease do better and tend to live longer than leaner patients with the same severity of disease, according to a review article published in the May 26, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://phys.org/news161887269.html Medicine & Health Mon, 18 May 2009 17:41:32 EST news161887269 By lending them a gene normally reserved for other classes of animals, researchers have shown they can rescue flies from their Parkinson's-like symptoms, including movement defects and excess free radicals produced in power-generating cellular components called mitochondria. The gene swap also protects healthy flies' mitochondria, and to a large extent the flies themselves, from the damaging effects of cyanide and other toxins, the team reports in the May issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. http://phys.org/news160752389.html Biology Tue, 05 May 2009 14:27:31 EST news160752389 A common misconception about arterial plaque is that it inevitably leads to a heart attack or a stroke. New research at Columbia University Medical Center, however, sheds light on why so few plaques in any given individual actually cause a problem. Furthermore, the research has identified a key protein that may promote the conversion from benign to dangerous plaques. http://phys.org/news160751426.html Biology Tue, 05 May 2009 14:11:45 EST news160751426 Moderate calorie restriction causes temporal changes in the liver and skeletal muscle metabolism, whereas moderate weight loss affects muscle, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. In addition, researchers found that short-term calorie restriction (CR) with a low-carbohydrate diet caused a greater change in liver fat content and metabolic function than short-term CR with a high-carbohydrate diet. http://phys.org/news160675334.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 May 2009 17:02:42 EST news160675334 Possible anti-obesity effects of white tea have been demonstrated in a series of experiments on human fat cells (adipocytes). Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Nutrition and Metabolism have shown that an extract of the herbal brew effectively inhibits the generation of new adipocytes and stimulates fat mobilization from mature fat cells. http://phys.org/news160376382.html Medicine & Health Fri, 01 May 2009 06:00:47 EST news160376382 Scientists at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have taken the first steps toward constructing a systems biology map of iron metabolism. The team has put together a general network of chemicals and reactions important for the many steps and reactions that constitute iron metabolism. http://phys.org/news160135994.html Chemistry Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:13:49 EST news160135994 (PhysOrg.com) -- A tiny electrochemical cell, developed by researchers of the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, The Netherlands, is able to mimick the behaviour of medicine inside a human body. This chip is presented in the journal Lab on a Chip. http://phys.org/news159795004.html Chemistry Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:30:44 EST news159795004 The calming neurological effects of nicotine have been demonstrated in a group of non-smokers during anger provocation. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Behavioral and Brain Functions suggest that nicotine may alter the activity of brain areas that are involved in the inhibition of negative emotions such as anger. http://phys.org/news159774124.html Medicine & Health Fri, 24 Apr 2009 06:45:36 EST news159774124 Recent studies have shown that the mitochondrial peptide Humanin (HN) protects against neuronal cell death such as happens in Alzheimer's disease. Now, in a study presented April 22 at Experimental Biology 2009 in New Orleans, Dr. Nir Barzilai reports that a small infusion of HN is the most potent regulator of insulin metabolism that his research team has ever seen, significantly improving overall insulin sensitivity and sharply decreasing the glucose levels of diabetic rats. http://phys.org/news159632230.html Biology Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:17:42 EST news159632230 A global analysis of brain proteins over a 10-week period in a mouse model of Huntington Disease has revealed some new insights into this complex neurodegenerative disorder. For example, profound changes (comparable to those seen in late-stage HD) actually occur well before any disease symptoms show up, and most of the changes are confined to a specific stage during disease progression. These findings should aid in determining the optimal times for therapies that aim to treat or cure this disease. http://phys.org/news159115703.html Medicine & Health Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:48:50 EST news159115703 Sven Enerbäck, Professor at the Institute of Biomedicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, is one of the scientists who published their results in The New England Journal of Medicine this week. Studies carried out by Enerbäck and others show that adults use brown fat to convert energy to heat - a discovery that may provide new possibilities in treating overweight and obesity. http://phys.org/news159100537.html Medicine & Health Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:36:20 EST news159100537 A test developed by physician-scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis may help assess more quickly the ability of Alzheimer's drugs to affect one of the possible underlying causes of Alzheimer's disease in humans, accelerating the development of new treatments. http://phys.org/news158563736.html Medicine & Health Fri, 10 Apr 2009 06:30:11 EST news158563736 Deficiency in vitamin D has been widely regarded as contributing to autoimmune disease, but a review appearing in Autoimmunity Reviews explains that low levels of vitamin D in patients with autoimmune disease may be a result rather than a cause of disease and that supplementing with vitamin D may actually exacerbate autoimmune disease. http://phys.org/news158425579.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:06:48 EST news158425579 Many diseases derive from problems with cellular respiration, the process through which cells extract energy from nutrients. Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have now discovered a new function for a protein in the mitochondrion - popularly called the cell's power station - that plays a key part in cell respiration. http://phys.org/news158405697.html Biology Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:35:13 EST news158405697 It's basically a given that diets loaded with fat can lead to considerable health problems. But a new study in the April issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, shows that in some cases diets that are high in both fat and protein can be even worse. http://phys.org/news158328667.html Biology Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:11:35 EST news158328667 An inflammatory factor already linked to several diseases, including pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and arthritis, may also be responsible for the insulin resistance that comes with obesity, according to a new study published in the April issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. http://phys.org/news158327353.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:50:24 EST news158327353 Dr. Yinfa Ma has developed a method for pre-cancer screening that uses urine samples for detection. Ma hopes to be able to predict types of cancer as well as severity. http://phys.org/news157988773.html Medicine & Health Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:46:43 EST news157988773 (AP) -- Traces of a chemical used in rocket fuel were found in samples of powdered baby formula, and could exceed what's considered a safe dose for adults if mixed with water also contaminated with the ingredient, a government study has found. http://phys.org/news157962218.html Medicine & Health Fri, 03 Apr 2009 07:38:23 EST news157962218 Two University of Rhode Island scientists have revealed how a cancer causing protein is regulated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) -- a type of stress signal. Their findings provide new insight into how this protein normally behaves in human cells and may help in the design of drugs targeting specific cancers. http://phys.org/news157287306.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:55:43 EST news157287306 Imbalance of iron homeostasis is a common feature of prion disease-affected human, mouse, and hamster brains, according to a new study by Dr. Neena Singh and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, alongside collaborators from Creighton University. These findings, published March 13 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens, provide new insight into the mechanism of neurotoxicity in prion disorders, and novel avenues for the development of therapeutic strategies. http://phys.org/news156173016.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:25:12 EST news156173016 Children at high risk of obesity who live near parks and recreation areas are apt to participate in walking activities more often, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism. http://phys.org/news156096349.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:06:45 EST news156096349 (PhysOrg.com) -- UC Irvine researchers have discovered that circadian rhythms - our own body clock - regulate energy levels in cells. The findings have far-reaching implications, from providing greater insights into the bond between the body's day-night patterns and metabolism to creating new ways to treat cancer, diabetes, obesity and a host of related diseases. http://phys.org/news156087705.html Biology Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:42:18 EST news156087705 Rapid growth of cancer cells and their frequent divisions have their price: Cancer cells need considerably more energy than healthy cells. Their metabolism runs at full speed and requires large amounts of micronutrients, particularly iron. However, high levels of iron in the cell lead to the production of extremely harmful free radicals. To protect itself from these, the cell inactivates free iron by binding it to what are called iron storage proteins. http://phys.org/news155983349.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:58:28 EST news155983349