Researchers Discover New Mechanism for Rapid Liver Regeneration to Restore Damaged Livers

Getty Images for Unsplash+Researchers at the National Cancer Research Centre in Spain (CNIO) have discovered a mechanism that is triggered just minutes after acute liver damage occurs—and it could lead to treatments for those with severe liver problems.The avenues for future treatments of liver damage include a diet enriched with the amino acid glutamate.“Glutamate supplementation can promote liver regeneration and benefit patients in recovery following hepatectomy or awaiting a transplant,” wrote the authors in a paper published in ‘Nature’.The liver is a vital organ, crucial to digestion, metabolism, and the elimination of toxins. It has a unique ability to regenerate, which allows it to replace liver cells damaged by the very toxins that these cells eliminate.However, the liver stops regenerating in cases of diseases that involve chronic liver damage–such as cirrhosis—and such diseases are becoming increasingly prevalent, associated with poor dietary habits or alcohol consumption. So activating liver regeneration is key to treating the disease.Learning to activate liver regeneration is therefore a priority today, to benefit patients with liver damage and also those who’ve had part of their liver cut out to remove a tumor.The research has discovered in animal models this previously unknown mechanism of liver regeneration. It is...

Read More........→April 17, 2025

Nasa's SOFIA finds water on sunlit surface of Moon

Nasa’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) – a telescope operating from an aircraft - has confirmed, for the first time, water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places, Nasa revealed today.SOFIA, a joint project of Nasa and the German Aerospace Centre. has detected water molecules (H2O) in Clavius Crater, one of the largest craters visible from Earth, located in the Moon’s southern hemisphere, the US space agency said. While previous observations of the Moon’s surface had detected some form of hydrogen, Nasa said, they were unable to distinguish between water and its close chemical relative, hydroxyl (OH). Data from this location reveal water in concentrations of 100 to 412 parts per million – roughly equivalent to a 12-ounce bottle of water – trapped in a cubic meter of soil spread across the lunar surface. The results are published in the latest issue of Nature Astronomy.“We had indications that H2O – the familiar water we know – might be present on the sunlit side of the Moon,” said Paul Hertz, director of the Astrophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Now we know it is there. This discovery challenges our understanding of the lunar surface...

Read More........→October 30, 2020

80 per cent COVID-19 patients in Spanish study had vitamin D deficiency

OCT 28, 2020 LONDON: A study of over 200 COVID-19 cases in a hospital in Spain found that about 80 per cent patients had vitamin D deficiency, scientists said on Wednesday. However, the study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, did not find any relationship between vitamin D concentrations or vitamin deficiency and the severity of the disease. The researchers found 80 per cent of 216 COVID-19 patients at the Hospital Universitario Marques de Valdecilla had vitamin D deficiency, and men had lower vitamin D levels than women. COVID-19 patients with lower vitamin D levels also had raised serum levels of inflammatory markers such as ferritin and D-dimer. "Vitamin D treatment should be recommended in COVID-19 patients with low levels of vitamin D circulating in the blood since this approach might have beneficial effects in both the musculoskeletal and the immune system," said Jose L. Hernandez, of the University of Cantabria in Santander, Spain. "One approach is to identify and treat vitamin D deficiency, especially in high-risk individuals such as the elderly, patients with comorbidities, and nursing home residents, who are the main target population for the COVID-19," said Hernendez. Vitamin D controls blood calcium concentration and impacts the immune system, the researchers said. Vitamin D deficiency...

Read More........→October 30, 2020

India's human space flight may face slight delay: ISRO chief

India's human space flight mission Gaganyaan will be "slightly delayed" owing to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic even as ISRO resumes rocket launch activities from the first week of November, space agency chief K. Sivan said on Monday.Answering a query at the plenary session of the International Astronautical Congress 2020, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman said India's first human space flight was targeted in August 2022, but owing to Covid-19's impact on the operations, the there will be a slight slip in meeting the mission's target date.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2018, had said when the nation is celebrating 75th year of Independence in 2022, an Indian son or daughter will be flying into space under the Gaganyaan mission.Sivan said that the Gaganyaan mission has advanced well and the country is taking the help of other space-faring nations like Russia for training the astronauts and some other critical aspects, France in the space medical area and is also approaching US space agency NASA.On resuming rocket launches, he said some missions were delayed as officials were unable to travel to the rocket port from different cities.Sivan said ISRO is planning to launch its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C49 (PSLV C49) during the first week of November.The...

Read More........→October 13, 2020

Spain: Government expects solar to dominate by 2030 with up to 77 GW

Spain has currently an installed PV power of around 4.8 GW. Image: Solaria Energía In a new report, the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Digital Agenda has predicted that solar will become the country’s largest electricity source by the end of the next decade. Cumulative installed PV power could even reach 77 GW by the end of 2030, according to the most bullish scenario drafted by the Spanish government.APRIL 3, 2018 EMILIANO BELLINI Spain’s Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Digital Agenda has published a new report, including new growth scenarios for the future of the Spanish energy market, which recognizes solar as the future cheapest source of power, and the dominance of PV above all other energy sources by 2030. The first scenario, called the “distributed generation scenario” (DG), forecasts strong development of renewable energy distributed generation coupled with storage systems. According to the most optimistic figures provided by the ministry, solar is expected to reach a power production capacity of 47.1 TWh by 2030, thus becoming the country’s leading power source, followed by wind (31.0 TWh), combined cycle plants (24.5 TWh), hydropower (23.0 TWh), cogeneration facilities (8.5 TWh), and nuclear power (7.1 TWh). Overall, storage is expected to account for 2.3 TWh of total demand. Under...

Read More........→April 07, 2018

Artificial Telepathy: Prosumers, Cicerones and Mugges

@ https://www.flickr.com/photos/danbri/2416664079/ CC/By/2.0/ Small electronic devices and social networking software are on the verge of creating a sort of artificial telepathy where images and ideas can be broadcast instantly to a group of people. 'If you get lost, my mobile will guide you' from the MUGGES project. TECNALIA Research & Innovation and Telefónica R+D have succeeded in taking one more step with social networks; with MUGGES, they have managed that any person with a mobile telephone in his or her hand is able to become a “cicerone”, a journalist or mobile reporter and, in fact, a provider of a huge amount of new services from their own terminal. The MUGGES project investigates the transformation of users of mobile telephones into prosumers, i.e. producers, providers and consumers of content from their own mobile telephone. The user generates and stores his or her own micro-services - known as mugglets - on their mobile telephone. This involves small applications that take advantage of the experience of the user and make use of the information of the context in real time, combining searching with social interaction. With MUGGES it is possible to share routes, follow the routes of others, visualise which routes are being followed when others are at the same point where the user is, comments by...

Read More........→May 27, 2016

Virtual reality therapy could help people with depression

A new immersive virtual reality therapy could help people with depression to be less critical and more compassionate towards themselves, reducing depressive symptoms, finds a new study from University College London (UCL) and ICREA-University of Barcelona. This new therapy, previously tested by healthy volunteers, was used by 15 depressed patients aged 23-61. Nine reported reduced depressive symptoms a month after the therapy, of whom four experienced a clinically significant drop in depression severity. The study is published in the British Journal of Psychiatry Open and was funded by the Medical Research Council. Patients in the study wore a virtual reality headset to see from the perspective of a life-size 'avatar' or virtual body. Seeing this virtual body in a mirror moving in the same way as their own body typically produces the illusion that this is their own body. This is called 'embodiment'. While embodied in an adult avatar, participants were trained to express compassion towards a distressed virtual child. As they talked to the child it appeared to gradually stop crying and respond positively to the compassion. After a few minutes, the patients were embodied in the virtual child and saw the adult avatar deliver their own compassionate words and gestures back to them. This brief eight minute scenario was repeated three...

Read More........→May 02, 2016

Two Stars Merging Into A Supermassive Star Seen By Astronomers

Credit: Javier Lorenzo (Universidad de Alicante) A study of "MY Camelopardalis" binary system, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, shows that the most massive stars are made up by merging with other smaller stars, as predicted by theoretical models. Most of the stars in our galaxy have been formed in binary or multiple systems, some of which are "eclipsing", this is consists of two or more stars which, observed from Earth, undergo eclipses and mutual transits because of their orbital plane facing our planet. One such system is the eclipsing binary MY Camelopardalis (MY Cam). Artistic rendering of MY Cam system. The proportions between the components reflect the analysis results. The stars are deformed by its very fast rotation and the gravitational pull of the companion. The journal Astronomy & Astrophysics has published an article on MY Cam, one of the most massive star known, with the results of observations from the Calar Alto Observatory (Almería) signed by astronomers at the University of Alicante, the Astrobiology Centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CAB-CSIC) and the Canaries’ Astrophysics Institute (IAC), along with amateur astronomers. This article concludes that MY Cam is the most massive binary star observed and its components, two stars of spectral type O (blue, very hot and...

Read More........→January 14, 2015

Evidence Of Life On Mars?

Gale crater, Credit: NASA In 2012 the Mars Science Laboratory landed in the fascinating Gale crater. The Gale crater is of such great interest because of the 5.5 km high mountain of layered materials in the middle. This material tells an intricate story of the history of Mars, perhaps spanning much of the existence of this mysterious planet. Once positioned, the Curiosity rover began field studies on its drive toward Aeolis Mons (also unofficially known as Mount Sharp), the central peak within the crater. Curiosity has travelled more than 9.4 km so far and during its trip up the mountain, Curiosity has begun taking samples of the mountain’s lower slopes. CheMin is one of ten instruments on or inside Curiosity, all designed to provide detailed information on the rocks, soils and atmosphere. [Bish et al. (2014).  1, 514-522; doi:10.1107/S2052252514021150] CheMin is actually a miniaturised X-ray diffraction/X-ray fluorescence (XRD/XRF) IUCrJ, instrument, approximately the size of a shoebox, that uses transmission geometry with an energy-discriminating CCD detector to obtain unparalleled results in quite challenging conditions. Five samples have been analysed by CheMin so far, namely a soil sample, three samples drilled from mudstones and a sample drilled from a sandstone. Rietveld and full-pattern analysis of the XRD data...

Read More........→December 14, 2014

Nissan's 100 percent electric commercial vehicle to hit road next year

By Dan McCue, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. will begin selling its 100 percent electric commercial vehicle, the "e-NV200," in Japan next year, with the intention of eventually offering it to prospective buyers worldwide. The e-NV200 is the Yokohama, Japan-based auto makter's second all-electric model available globally, following on the heels of its successful = Nissan LEAF. Production of the e-NV200 will begin at Nissan’s plant in Barcelona, Spain in mid-2014, the company said. In order to establish an effective model case that leverages the characteristics of e-NV200, Nissan is discussing specific strategies with Yokohama's city government. Under consideration are the use of e-NV200 by Yokohama city for its public services vehicles and the establishment of a vehicle monitor user program which would be available to all city residents. Nissan and the city are already collaborating on the "Yokohama Mobility Project Zero," which aims to create a working model of a functional city with a low carbon footprint. Activities so far have included the use of Nissan LEAF and the Nissan New Mobility CONCEPT, an ultra-compact electric vehicle. The parties may expand the project with the introduction of e-NV200. Measures to utilize the e-NV200 are evolving in Barcelona, Spain, which is involved in a mutually cooperative arrangement with Yokohama city...

Read More........→October 07, 2014

New Species Of Horse, 4.4 Million Years Old

Ardipithecus ramidus, commonly called Ardi. Two teams of researchers, including a scientist from Case Western Reserve University, have announced the discovery of a new species of fossil horse from 4.4 million-year-old fossil-rich deposits in Ethiopia. About the size of a small zebra, Eurygnathohippus woldegabrieli—named for geologist Giday WoldeGabriel, who earned his PhD at Case Western Reserve in 1987—had three-toed hooves and grazed the grasslands and shrubby woods in the Afar Region, the scientists say. They report their findings in the November issue of Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The horse fills a gap in the evolutionary history of horses but is also important for documenting how old a fossil locality is and in reconstructing habitats of human forebears of the time, said Scott Simpson, professor of anatomy at Case Western Reserve's School of Medicine, and coauthor of the research. "This horse is one piece of a very complex puzzle that Modern Zebra has many, many pieces."The researchers found the first E. woldegabrieli teeth and bones in 2001, in the Gona area of the Afar Region. This fossil horse was among the diverse array of animals that lived in the same areas as the ancient human ancestor Ardipithecus ramidus, commonly called Ardi. "The fossil search team spreads out to survey for fossils in the now arid...

Read More........→December 17, 2013

Rare Colorful Birds Around the World

.. Guinea Turaco The Guinea Turaco (Tauraco persa), also known as the Green Turaco, is a species of turaco, a group of near-passerines birds. It is found in forests of West and Central Africa, ranging from Senegal east to DR Congo and south to northern Angola. It lays two eggs in a tree platform nest. It formerly included the Livingstone's, Schalow's, Knysna, Black-billed and Fischer's Turacos as subspecies. persa buffoni is the only subspecies of the Guinea Turaco without a white line below the eye The Guinea Turaco, often inconspicuous in the treetops, is approximately 43 cm long, including a long tail. The plumage is largely green and the tail and wings are dark purplish, except for the crimson primary feathers that are very distinct in flight. In the westernmost subspecies buffoni, which sometimes is known as the Buffon's Turaco, there is a white line above and in front of the eye and a black line below the eye. In the nominate subspecies of the central part of its range and zenkeri of the southeastern part there also is a second white line below the black line. Unlike similar turacos with red bills, even adult Guinea Turacos lack a white rear edge to the crest....

Read More........→October 13, 2013

Scientists Announce Top 10 New Species

Credit: Composite: Jacob Sahertian An amazing glow-in-the-dark cockroach, a harp-shaped carnivorous sponge and the smallest vertebrate on Earth are just three of the newly discovered top 10 species selected by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. A global committee of taxonomists — scientists responsible for species exploration and classification — announced its list of top 10 species from 2012 today, May 23. The announcement, now in its sixth year, coincides with the anniversary of the birth of Carolus Linnaeus — the 18th century Swedish botanist responsible for the modern system of scientific names and classifications. The top 10 new species list was announced May 23 by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. The 2013 list includes an amazing glow-in-the-dark cockroach, a harp-shaped carnivorous sponge, and the smallest vertebrate on Earth -- a tiny frog. It also includes a snail-eating false coral snake, flowering bushes, a green lacewing, a hangingfly fossil, a monkey with a blue-colored behind and human-like eyes, a tiny violet and a black staining fungus. Also slithering it way onto this year's top 10 is a snail-eating false coral snake, as well as flowering bushes from a disappearing forest in Madagascar, a green lacewing that was discovered...

Read More........→May 26, 2013