Brain Cancer and SENP1Silencing
By Daniel Walocha ‘19 Astrocytomas are the most common type of glioma and contain the most detrimental subtype of brain cancers, glioblastoma multiforme. Astrocytomas affect the astrocytes in the brain, which make up the blood-brain barrier. Xia et al. from Purdue University looked to study the effect of SUMO-specific protease 1 (SENP1) knockout in cell lines derived from astrocytoma patients. SENP1 was previously found to … Continue reading Brain Cancer and SENP1Silencing
Urethral Carcinoma
By Daniel Walocha ‘19 Urethral carcinomas are not understood well enough to be mapped out for clinical and pathologic description. The cellular shape and function has been described to be squamous (flattened) and aggressive due to its ability to metastasize to distant organs. The mean survival and follow-up with patients offer a correlation between urethral carcinomas and human papilloma virus. Dr. Miao Zhang et al. … Continue reading Urethral Carcinoma
TIGAR Protein Associated Survival in Viral Carcinogenesis
By Daniel Walocha ‘19 Oncogene overexpression will lead to cancer phenotypes that can accumulate cytotoxic metabolites, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and other apoptosis-inducing factors in the cell. It is therefore necessary for the cancerous cell to eliminate the apoptosis-inducing factors or suppress apoptosis altogether. Dr. Megan Romeo et al. from Richland College has detected a mechanism in which a cooperative pathway utilizes a cellular protein … Continue reading TIGAR Protein Associated Survival in Viral Carcinogenesis
Habitat Creation and Woodland Bird Populations
By Fatin Chowdhury ‘19 Many are aware of the need for conservation in ecologically vulnerable locations, but scientists continue to seek to clarify the details surrounding conservation logistics. A study led by Dr. Robin Whytock at the University of Sterling examined differences in local and landscape habitat creation for bird communities within the woodland forests in central England and Scotland. Whytock’s team considered biodiversity and … Continue reading Habitat Creation and Woodland Bird Populations
Visualizing the Impacts of Age and Disease on the Brain
By Fatin Chowdhury ‘19 Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a common neurodegenerative disorder, has previously been found to increase atrophy rate of the hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with learning and memory. In relation to this issue, Dr. Daniel H. Adler and researchers from the University of Pennsylvania recently examined specific structural details of the human hippocampus as relevant to advanced age and AD. Thirty-one … Continue reading Visualizing the Impacts of Age and Disease on the Brain
Synergistic Products May Possibly Aid Bacterial Survival
By Fatin Chowdhury ‘19 In an introductory microbiology course, students may learn about bacterial synergy. When bacteria synergistically infect a host through a biofilm, for example, different strains work in conjunction with one another, amplifying their effects. Researchers in Germany, led by Dr. Johannes Arp, recently explored the synergetic tendencies of products from a strain of Pseudomonas bacteria designated as QS1027, which in environmental samples … Continue reading Synergistic Products May Possibly Aid Bacterial Survival
Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Prenatal Stress on Offspring Glucocorticoid Levels
By Maryna Mullerman’20 The Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA)-axis is an important pathway that mediates the relationship between prenatal stress and later offspring development. Glucocorticoids—the final steroid hormones in the HPA-axis released by the cortex of the adrenal gland — are closely associated with prenatal stress in humans. To investigate the strength of this association among different animal species, Zaneta M. Thayer and researchers from Dartmouth … Continue reading Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Prenatal Stress on Offspring Glucocorticoid Levels
FGF21 Is Associated with Cognitive Impairments in Non-Elderly Patients
By Maryna Mullerman ’20 Patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS), associated with cognitive decline, often express elevated levels of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), an endocrine hormone for metabolic regulation. Arintaya Phrommintikul and researchers from Chiang Mai University in Thailand investigated the link between FGF21 and cognitive decline in elderly and non-elderly patients. They hypothesized that FGF21 levels corresponded with cognitive performance in younger and … Continue reading FGF21 Is Associated with Cognitive Impairments in Non-Elderly Patients
School Type Does Not Determine Individual Academic Success
By Maryna Mullerman ’20 It is generally thought that students graduating from selective schools have a greater chance at higher levels of academic achievement. A study conducted by Emily Smith-Woolley and researchers from King’s College London investigated the roles of genetics and school selectivity in pupils’ academic success. The study compared the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) test scores of students from state-funded non-selective, … Continue reading School Type Does Not Determine Individual Academic Success
Further Into the Atom with Ultrafast Light
Neomi Lewis ‘21 A great deal of modern atomic physics seeks to plumb the hidden depths of the atom, particularly the dynamics of inner-shell electrons about which not much is known. Attosecond, or 1×10-18 of a second, laser technology used by the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics, run by both LMU Munich and the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, has recently been able to create … Continue reading Further Into the Atom with Ultrafast Light
Novel Water-Repellent Materials Coming to You Soon
Neomi Lewis ‘21 While water-repellent surfaces already exist, these surfaces usually gain this property by modifications including coatings, paints or solvents. A team of physicists at the University of Rochester is attempting to change the surface of metals with high power lasers to create super water-repellent surfaces without the use of traditional coating methods. It is an ambitious project that is expected to last six … Continue reading Novel Water-Repellent Materials Coming to You Soon
Star Neighbor’s Unusual Day
Neomi Lewis ‘21 Analysis of observations taken by the Atacama Large Millemeter/sub millimeter Array, a radio telescope, shows that last March, Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, experienced significant stellar flares. This alarming behavior casts further doubt into the habitability of the Solar System’s nearest exoplanetary neighbor, Proxima b, which orbits Proxima Centauri. Stellar flares occur when electrons accelerate at very high speeds, … Continue reading Star Neighbor’s Unusual Day
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