Capsule in Biological News

Scientists discover how deadly fungus protects itself

... & immunology. Scientists have known that the capsule surrounding C. neoformans is essential to its ... disease. When the fungus enters a host, the capsule begins to enlarge. "As the capsule grows larger, it reaches a point where immune ...

New polymer coatings prevent corrosion, even when scratched

... both the catalyst and the healing agent, we have created a dual capsule system that can be added to virtually any liquid coating material," said ... visual evidence of corrosion even after 120 hours of exposure. "Our dual capsule healing system offers a general approach to self-healing coatings that ...

Extreme nature helps scientists design nano materials

... in the laboratory. This shows that the rigid, rod-shaped SIRV2 virus capsule must be very stable, an important characteristic for use as a nanobuilding block. To be potentially useful as a VNP, the viral capsule also needs to be open to modification or decoration with functional ...

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- March 26, 2008

... communicate with each other by physically shuffling chemical signals from capsule to capsule, much like passing water through a firemans bucket brigade. ... cell. When placed next to an empty capsule, nanoparticles from the filled capsule initiated the motion of the empty capsule, which in turn caused the ...

Unlikely life thriving at Antarctica's Blood Falls

... the area was trapped. The pool was eventually capped by the flow of the glacier. The briny pond, whatever its size "is a unique sort of time capsule from a period in Earth's history," Mikucki said. "I don't know of another environment quite like this on Earth." Life below the Taylor Glacier may ...

Chinese slimming capsules

... sibutramine, which resembles amphetamine and which inhibits the reuptake of serotonin and noradrenaline in the brain. The sibutramine dose in each capsule corresponded to twice the daily maximum dose of the prescription drug in Germany. Fifteen women and two men exhibited symptoms of poisoning, ...

Researchers develop flow sensors based on hair structures of blind cavefish

... or long-range detection of hydrodynamic disturbances created by moving or stationary bodies in a flow field. The hair cell needed the gel-like capsule called the cupula to overcome these challenges. "After covering the hair cell with synthetic cupula, our bio-inspired microsensor had the ...

'Seeing' stem cells helps in fight against peripheral arterial disease

... cannot be done by directly labeling the stem cells themselves. Hopkins researchers used a new technique that encloses stem cells in an alginate capsule or "bubble" made from seaweed that contains stem cells to create factors to recruit the building of new vessels along with an X-rayvisible contrast ...

GEN reports biomanufacturers target a fully disposable process stream

... reduced by half, according to the company. Pall's Allegro line of disposable products for small- to large-scale processing includes Kleenpak Nova capsule filters. Single-use Kleenpak Connectors, each composed of a male and a female connector, are used to link two separate presterilized fluid pathways. ...

New technique images tumor vessel leakiness to predict breast cancer chemotherapy outcome

... project was funded by the National Science Foundation and Georgia Cancer Coalition. For the study, a long-circulating nanometer-scale liposomal capsule filled with iodinated contrast agent was injected into rats with six-day-old breast cancer tumors. For the next three days, the researchers collected ...

New generation of orthopedic, dental and cardiovascular prostheses

... it is important to limit the growth of certain cells in order not interfere with blood flow. Also, in some cases, cells can form an undesirable capsule around dental implants causing them to fall. The scientists demonstrated that treatment with specific etchants reduced the growth of unwanted cells. ...

Moderate use averts failure of type 2 diabetes drugs in animal model

... and Remedi saw an important opportunity to learn about the long-term failure of sulfonylureas with the availability of an implantable time-release capsule form of one of the drugs, glibenclamide. They implanted the capsules in the necks of mice. As expected, the drugs initially caused mouse beta cells ...

Experimental chemotherapy regimen shows promise in treating advanced lung cancer

... gastric cancer, but is still in clinical trials in other countries, including the U.S. and Europe. The multifaceted agent, which is available in capsule form, has three different mechanisms of action. One part breaks down into active fluorouracil (5-FU) once it is in the body. 5-FU is a chemotherapy ...

Scientists learn how food affects the brain

... higher test scores for boys and girls in Australia, but only for girls in Indonesia. Getting omega-3 fatty acids from food rather than from capsule supplements can be more beneficial, providing additional nutrients, Gmez-Pinilla said. Scientists are learning which omega-3 fatty acids seem ...

Life, but not as we know it?

... way from a true synthetic counterpart to a biological cell, but we have demonstrated that we can transfer certain molecules from inside the synthetic capsule to the bacteria when they are in physical contact, which is an exciting development. It's extremely early stages, but it's a move closer to the ...

Detecting dangerous chemicals with lasers, exploring the brain's circuitry with light and more

... will paint the inside walls of this chamber, heating the metal walls and causing them to emit X-rays that will fill the can, bombard a small plastic capsule in the can's center, implode the capsule, and trigger the fusion of tritium and deuterium inside. Lead researcher Christopher A. Haynam with LLNL ...

Needle-size device created to track tumors, radiation dose

... up-to-date information about the cumulative dose a tumor is receiving over time. "It's a radiation dosimeter and a tracking device in the same capsule and will be hermetically sealed so that it will not have to be removed from the body," Ziaie said. The same researchers in 2006 reported findings ...

Prison study to investigate link between diet and behavior

... to ensure that inmates' diets reached recommended UK dietary standards. The researchers found that the prisoners who consumed the active nutrient capsule committed on average 26% fewer disciplinary offences overall than those taking the placebo and 37% fewer violent offences Our initial findings ...

Ants and avalanches: Insects on coffee plants follow widespread natural tendency

... name: the decapitating fly. The parasitic fly lays its egg on the thorax of an ant; the egg hatches and the fly larva migrates into the ant's head capsule where it feasts on the contents. Then the ant's head falls off and the new adult fly emerges. Unfortunately for the ants, the bigger their clusters, ...

Children's Hospital studying drug with the potential to prevent/delay onset of type 1 diabetes

... insulin in preventing or delaying the onset of type 1 diabetes in people at risk for the disease. The researchers want to determine if one insulin capsule taken daily can prevent or delay the onset of type 1 diabetes in relatives of people who are found to be at risk for developing the disease, ...

Carnegie Mellon researchers to develop new drug delivery system

... their actions in non-invasive ways. By using inducible gene expression, we hope to provide physicians with external control over capsule degradation and the amount of therapeutic enzyme released into the brain by engineered cells as determined by the dose of drugs that are given to the ...

Green alga genome project catalogs carbon capture machinery

... also cataloged in this study. Defects in these genes are associated with a growing list of human diseases. "The Chlamy genome is like a green time capsule that affords a view into the complex core machinery that gave rise to today's energy-capturing and oxygen-producing chloroplasts," said Daniel ...

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- Aug. 8, 2007

... is a safe and well-established procedure to correct the vision loss from a cataract. In about 25 percent of cases, however, the back portion of the capsule eventually becomes clouded with a secondary cataract. Jr me notes that treatment is available for secondary cataracts, but describes it as risky ...

Microcapsules like it hot and salty

... it is important that the permeability of the capsule wall can be adjusted precisely. When the ... active substance through to the inside. Then the capsule shell must be sealed to enclose the contents so ... out that the density and the thickness of the capsule wall, and hence its permeability, can be ...

New GI technologies improve internal organ visualization

... Double Balloon Enteroscopy (DBE) Compared to capsule Endoscopy (CE) Among Patients with Obscure ... small intestine for abnormalities or diseases: capsule endoscopy (CE) and double balloon enteroscopy ... in diagnosing intestinal bleeding. During a capsule endoscopy, the patient swallows a small camera ...

Outsmarting the smartie bug

... of the genes involved. The polysaccharide capsule forms a sugary coat around the bacterium and changing the structure of the capsule can help it to fool our immune defence systems ... The first, PCV, recognizes seven forms of the capsule and protects against 82% of infections in ...

Molecular 'signature' protects cells from viruses

... the commands. Viruses, for example, basically consist of a small protein capsule which surrounds its genetic make-up ?usually an RNA molecule. This RNA mainly contains the blueprint for new capsule proteins. By injecting its RNA into the cell, the virus re-programmes it: ...

CO2 sensing proves critical for fungal pathogens to adapt to life in air and human hosts

... a major role, whereas for C. neoformans, synthesis of a polysaccharide capsule is key. In the bodies of mammals, the CO2 concentration is more than ... mediating both the CO2 -dependent filamentation in C. albicans and the capsule biosynthesis in C. neoformans. The authors go on to show that CO2 sensing ...

Navigable nanotransport

... groups at the periphery. Additionally, if building block are chosen that are able to bind specific (bio)molecules very tightly, the surface of the capsule can be easily decorated with species that are recognized by cells, showing the transporter the way to reach its goal, such as a tumor cell. To ...

Negative effects of caffeine are stronger on daytime sleep than on nocturnal sleep

... the night (Night), while 17 subjects were sleep deprived for one night and recovery sleep started in the morning (DayRec). All subjects received a capsule of 100 mg of caffeine (or placebo) 3 hours before bedtime, and the remaining dose 1 hour before bedtime. Compared to placebo, caffeine lengthened ...

Pesticides need sunscreen to beat the heat

... announcing that several heat records were broken in the UK this year. The team of scientists, led by Dr Li-Xiong Wen, has developed a new type of capsule that shields pesticides from UV light. The research, to be published on Monday in Pest Management Science (DOI 10.1002/ps.1301) shows that the ...

Vaccine combined with short-term postexposure antibiotics protects monkeys from inhalational anthrax

... they are transformed into vegetative cells that produce three components contributing to virulence--lethal toxin, edema toxin, and capsule. The capsule surrounds the vegetative cell and prevents it from being ingested by host white blood cells that would otherwise destroy it, thus allowing anthrax ...

Nanosecond-scale release of stinging jellyfish nematocysts

... that the high speed of discharge is caused by the release of energy stored in the stretched configuration of the collagen-polymer of the nematocyst capsule wall. This ingenious solution allows the cellular process of vesicle exocytosis to release kinetic energy in the nanosecond range by a powerful ...