| Subject: This week in science |
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Betty
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Date Posted: 15:50:12 01/23/05 Sun
Rats bred for their ability to use oxygen efficiently and generate the energy it takes to run for long periods of time are less apt to suffer from cardiovascular diseases than their more slovenly maze-mates, according to research at the University of Michigan Medical School. Translated to humans, it means that people with a natural ability to run distances are less apt to suffer heart problems than those who get winded walking up the stairs from the basement to grab a Swiss Roll. Rats with low aerobic capacity also had higher levels of blood fat disorders, insulin resistance and more abdominal fat than high-capacity rats.
An organ of consequence
The spleen, often regarded as a surplus organ that viciously speared hockey players can lose without consequence, contains valuable stem cells that can aid in healing, according to researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital. If true, the cells could have a broader therapeutic use, such as in the treatment of diabetes, or could even be coaxed into producing blood cells. "What has been considered a practically unnecessary organ may actually provide critical healing cells," says Denise Faustman, director of the MGH Immunobiology Laboratory.
The gases got 'em
Greenhouse gases, not a catastrophic asteroid incident à la Armageddon, caused the "Great Dying" of 250 million years ago, say scientists at the University of Washington. The gases most likely came from erupting volcanoes. The Great Dying is considered the biggest catastrophe in the history of life on Earth, with 90 per cent of all marine life and nearly three-quarters of land-based plant and animal life going extinct. The scientists found evidence of a mass extinction resulting from catastrophic ecosystem changes over a long time scale, not sudden changes associated with an impact.
Hope for Alzheimer's patients
Researchers from Washington University's School of Medicine have shown that an antibody treatment administered to the brain surface in mice with Alzheimer's disease is capable of rapidly reversing disease-related structural nerve damage. One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer disease is the presence of deposits, or "plaques," in areas of the brain responsible for memory and cognition. While several approaches to decreasing plaque or increasing its clearance from the brain are being studied as potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease, it is not known whether, upon clearance, significant structural damage to nerves is reversed, remains, or continues.
Abuse aftermath
Poor women who are physically or sexually abused at some point in their lives are less likely to maintain stable intimate relationships, according to a new study of more than 2,500 women by sociologists from Johns Hopkins University and Penn State University. While there is no evidence that abuse rates have increased, the number of women postponing intimate relationships may be growing, said Andrew Cherlin, the Griswold Professor of Public Policy at Johns Hopkins and lead author of the report. "What's changed over the past few decades is the social context of abuse," Cherlin said. "Women don't have to stay with abusive men anymore because they have alternatives to marriage."
Clean water for free
Plastic bottles may offer the best and cheapest solution to clean up water polluted in disasters such as the Asian tsunami, say researchers.
Scientists at Switzerland's Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology say solar water disinfection, or Sodis, is already in use in 20 countries, and is a cheap alternative to expensive water-purification systems. People can clean water in clear plastic bottles simply by filling them up, shaking them and then leaving them in the sun for at least six hours, if possible on a sheet of corrugated iron or a roof. The radiation from sunlight and the increased temperature of the water are enough to kill many forms of bacteria and viruses.
Swiss researchers say the Sodis system suffers from only one drawback: people's refusal to admit that something so economical could be so effective.
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