Marine algae contain sulphated polysaccharides that are absent in terrestrial plants. These unique polymers are used as a carbon source by marine heterotrophic bacteria that produce specific CAZymes. In comparison to the accumulating knowledge on the degradation of plant polysaccharides little is known about the enzymes acting on polysaccharides from marine edible algae such as…
Read moreSpin found in more than half of abstract conclusions in reports of negative trials. How often are negative trials made to look positive, and how is this done? A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association tried to answer these questions by examining all reports of parallel group trials with non-signif¬icant results on…
Read moreBone modelling and remodelling are the final common pathways expressing all genetic and environmental factors affecting the attainment, maintenance, and decay of bone’s material and structural strength.’ During growth, this cellular machinery assembles the size, shape, and architecture of bone by depositing and removing material from the outer (periosteal) surface and the three (endocortical, intracortical,…
Read moreAdult deaths and causes of adult death are a crucial priority for global health. Yet, adult mortality has received little policy attention, resources, or monitoring studies. This study aimed to estimate worldwide mortality in men and women aged 15-59 years. A database of 3889 measurements of adult mortality for 187 countries from 1970 to 2010…
Read morePancreatic β-cells and skeletal muscle act in a synergic way in the control of systemic glucose homeostasis. Several pyruvate-dependent and pyruvate-independent shuttles increase tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediate anaplerosis and increase β -cell ATP:ADP ratio, triggering insulin exocytotic mechanisms. Mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediate cataplerosis gives rise to the so-called metabolic coupling factors, which are also…
Read moreVitamin A is vital during the initial stages of life. Important in embryonic development, tissue homeostasis, lipid metabolism and cellular differentiation and proliferation. Human placentae express factors for the nuclear transcription of retinoic acid receptors and retinoic X receptors. Modulation of these factors by retinoic acid modulates the expression of several genes such as: chorionic…
Read moreIn five minutes a human will burn around 350 joules (J) of energy per kilogram of body mass. A kilogram of mice will burn 3,000 J in the same time, and a 4,000- kg African elephant will burn just 200 J per kilogram. On a gram-for-gram basis, large animals burn less energy and require less…
Read moreAgeing Ageing is not a passive, disorganized process of deterioration, as biologists once thought. Like many biological processes, it is controlled by signalling pathways and transcription factors. Mutations in certain genes can slow down ageing and lengthen lifespan in model organisms, such as yeast, flies and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Pathways that extend life expectation…
Read moreSirtuins are members of a class of enzyme, deacetylases which remove acetyl groups from proteins. Sirtuin activators increase yeast life span by 70%. It is possible but not absolute that a compound resveratrol may activate sirtuins. A possible mechanism for the putative activity of resveratrol is similar to caloric restriction. It is rumoured that resveratrol…
Read moreObesity has reached epidemic proportions in the USA and affects one in three adult women aged 20 years or older, 62 % of women are overweight or obese (BMI more than 25 kg/m2). Obesity will soon surpass tobacco and become the leading cause of preventable death in the USA Women may be at greater risk…
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