feed info

279,032 articles from PhysOrg

'Antedrugs': A safer approach to drug therapy

Corticosteroids are powerful drugs used to treat inflammatory conditions such as asthma and other chronic diseases which has made them among the most widely prescribed drugs. Although the anti-inflammatory drugs offer swift relief to the patient, they can carry with them serious side effects. For example, the inflammatory steroids used to treat a child's asthma, but can stunt the child's growth...

A novel method of isolating high quality RNA from Kupffer cells

Kupffer cells, resident tissue macrophages that line the liver sinusoids, play a key role in modulating inflammation in a number of experimental models of liver injury. Since Kupffer cells represent only a small portion of the entire liver cell population, greatly outnumbered by the parenchymal cells, Kupffer cell isolation faces major technical obstacles. Laser capture microdissection (LCM)...

Alpha-fetoprotein can affect the development of rat colons?

Mammalian alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a single-chain glycoprotein and altered serum AFP levels have been observed concurrent with aberrant growth manifestations in some congenital defects and cancer. The gut development during late gestation and early neonatal period is accompanied by changes in the synthesis of AFP, and abundance declines significantly during gut development. In this case, AFP is...

Diesel fights for traction with U.S. buyers

Just like gasoline, diesel fuel has plummeted in price since last summer after reaching almost $5 a gallon. So now that diesel goes for about $2.25, sales of diesel-powered vehicles, which almost always get better mileage than their gas-powered counterparts, have risen, right?

EPA takes first step toward climate change regs

(AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases are a danger to public health and welfare, taking the first step to regulating pollution linked to climate change, The Associated Press has learned.

Male impotence drugs may deserve a second look in women

New studies indicate the three drugs used to treat male impotence also appear to work in females, albeit a little differently, and should give the scientific community pause to take a second look at their potential in the 40 percent of women who report sexual dysfunction, researchers say.

Sun, IBM buyout talks in limbo

Representatives of Sun Microsystems met earlier this week with advisers for IBM in an effort to restart buyout talks that stalled earlier this month, but no deal was reached.

To sun, or not to sun?

You ditched the baby oil with iodine ions ago, but you still have some burning questions about less-obvious sun no-no's. Now that spring is here and everyone's exposure time is likely to increase, get updated on the latest sun sense:

Genetic switch potential key to new class of antibiotics

Researchers have determined the structure of a key genetic mechanism at work in bacteria, including some that are deadly to humans, in an important step toward the design of a new class of antibiotics, according to an accelerated publication that appeared online today as a "paper of the week" in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Surveillance vehicles take flight using alternative energy (w/Video)

Nearly undetectable from the ground, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are widely used by the military to scan terrain for possible threats and intelligence. Now, fuel cell powered UAVs are taking flight as an Office of Naval Research (ONR)-sponsored program to help tactical decision-makers gather critical information more efficiently... and more quietly.

4 convicted in Pirate Bay file-sharing trial

(AP) -- Four men behind popular file-sharing site The Pirate Bay were convicted Friday of breaking Sweden's copyright law by helping millions of users freely download music, movies and computer games on the Internet.

Differences among exercisers and nonexercisers during pregnancy

No one doubts that mothers - especially pregnant mothers - are among the busiest people on earth. And while the benefits of exercise for these women and their developing fetuses are widely known, many expectant mothers do not exercise. A survey examining daily activities of moms-to-be will soon be released as part of a larger study looking at the effect of maternal exercise on fetal development....

Enforcing bans on cigarette sales to kids reduces youth smoking

A new study finds that enforcing federal and state laws against tobacco sales to minors dramatically decreases underage smoking rates. The results show that laws prohibiting sales of cigarettes to minors and stepped up enforcement of those laws in the United States have led to a 20.8 percent drop in the odds of 10th graders becoming daily smokers.

Forests could flip from sink to source of CO2: study

Forests that today soak up a quarter of carbon pollution spewed into the atmosphere could soon become a net source of CO2 if Earth's surface warms by another two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), cautions a report to be presented Friday at the UN.

March video game sales slump more than expected

(AP) -- U.S. video game sales slumped more than expected in March and were flat in the first quarter when compared with a year earlier - hurt by the recession, a shift in the Easter calendar and fewer big game launches.