From Kent University: Several Kent State University professors in the College of Arts and Sciences have been selected to receive Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). REU grants are designed to provide faculty with funding to create research positions and experiences specifically for undergraduate students. These students typically come from two- or four-year institutions that may not provide access to many research opportunities.

Torsten Hegmann, Ph.D., a professor at Kent States Liquid Crystal Institute, and Mike Tubergen, Ph.D., a professor and chair in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, were awarded $360,000 by the NSF in March for the support of an REU Site in liquid crystals and advanced materials at Kent State. The three-year award started June 1, 2017, and ends May 31, 2020.

The goal of this NSF-REU project is to provide a diverse group of undergraduate students with a comprehensive learning and career-building experience that has advanced materials chemistry at its core, yet seamlessly crosses the disciplinary boundaries among materials science, biology and chemical physics, Hegmann explained. Undergraduate students will conduct research in Kent States Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, as well as the Liquid Crystal Institute, which are recognized centers of excellence in advanced materials, technology and education.

The NSF also offered an REU Site award of $259,200 to Evgenia Soprunova, Ph.D., and Mikhail Chebotar, Ph.D., both in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Kent State, for undergraduate research in geometry, algebra and analysis. This award started May 1, 2017, and ends April 30, 2020.

Chebotar, whose students will be studying the interaction of linear algebra and ring theory, has had previous success with REU grants.

So far, I have supervised 15 REU students, and theyve published seven research papers, Chebotar said. Six of them were published in Linear Algebra and Its Applications, the top journal in the area of linear algebra, and one in Involve, a journal that showcases and encourages high-quality mathematical research involving students from all academic levels.

In addition to these faculty awards from the NSF, Taylor Michael, a biological sciences major at Kent State from Mantua, Ohio, is one of eight undergraduate students selected for the Ohio State Universitys Stone Laboratory 2017 REU Scholarship Program.

The five-week program is a competitive, comprehensive research internship that gives students the chance to conduct scientific research in the field alongside top scientists at Stone Laboratory, Ohio States island campus on Lake Erie.

REU students receive a full scholarship to Stone Lab, including lab fee, room and meals, in-state tuition for the 2-credit research experience and a 4-credit, five-week course. The program runs concurrently with Stone Labs five-week summer term. Students spend their nonclass days focused on research, working closely with their supervisors to design an experiment, collect samples and analyze data. At the end of the program, they give a final presentation to their peers and the public.

This years program was held June 18 through July 22. Michael studied field zoology.

More information about Stone Labs REU program can be found here.

For more information about Kent States College of Arts and Sciences, visit here.

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Originally published August 7, 2017.

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NSF Awards Grants To Kent Students - Patch.com

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Sunday, August 06, 2017

GoLocalProv News Team

Providence College receives Dreyfus Award

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is led by Dr. Seann Mulcahy and Dr. Kathleen Comely.

PC is the first college in Rhode Island to receive the award.

The Award

The $18,500 grant provides funding to bring a researcher to campus to give at least two lectures in the chemical sciences, and to interact with faculty and undergraduate students.

One of the lectures will be accessible and promoted to a wide audience that includes the general public, while the other lectures will be more technical and/or specific.

The grant will also fund two summer undergraduate research students selected from the pool of rising sophomore, junior, or senior chemistry/biochemistry majors.

Dreyfus Foundation

The Dreyfus Foundation is dedicated to the advancement of the chemical sciences as a means of improving human relations and circumstances throughout the world.

The Jean Dreyfus Lectureship award is made to only four to six chemistry departments per year across the US, and is viewed as extremely competitive among the chemistry community.

Brown University

US News Says:

"Brown University is a private institution that was founded in 1764. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 6,652, its setting is city, and the campus size is 146 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Brown University's ranking in the 2017 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 14. Its tuition and fees are $51,367 (2016-17)."

Providence College

US News Says:

"Providence College is a private institution that was founded in 1917. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 4,201, its setting is city, and the campus size is 105 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Providence College's ranking in the 2017 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities North, 1. Its tuition and fees are $46,970 (2016-17)."

Bryant University

US NEWS Says:

"Bryant University is a private institution that was founded in 1863. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 3,459, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 435 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Bryant University's ranking in the 2017 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities North, 9. Its tuition and fees are $40,962 (2016-17)"

Salve Regina

#32 (tie) in Regional Universities North

US News Says:

"Salve Regina University is a private institution that was founded in 1934. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,158, its setting is city, and the campus size is 78 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Salve Regina University's ranking in the 2017 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities North, 32. Its tuition and fees are $37,820 (2016-17)."

Roger Williams

US News Says:

"Roger Williams University is a private institution that was founded in 1956. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 4,555, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 140 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Roger Williams University's ranking in the 2017 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities North, 35. Its tuition and fees are $32,100 (2016-17)."

Johnson & Wales

#67 (tie) in Regional Universities North

US News Says:

"Johnson & Wales University is a private institution that was founded in 1914. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 8,768, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 126 acres. It utilizes a quarter-based academic calendar. Johnson & Wales University's ranking in the 2017 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities North, 67. Its tuition and fees are $30,746 (2016-17)."

Rhode Island College

US News Says:

"Rhode Island College is a public institution that was founded in 1854. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 7,446, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 180 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Rhode Island College's ranking in the 2017 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities North, 137. Its in-state tuition and fees are $8,206 (2016-17); out-of-state tuition and fees are $19,867 (2016-17)."

University of Rhode Island

US News Says:

"University of Rhode Island is a public institution that was founded in 1892. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 13,641, its setting is rural, and the campus size is 1,245 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. University of Rhode Island's ranking in the 2017 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 159. Its in-state tuition and fees are $12,862 (2015-16); out-of-state tuition and fees are $28,852 (2015-16)."

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Providence College Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry Receives Dreyfus Award - GoLocalProv

After Bhargava organised a controversial meeting at a research lab in Hyderabad in 1967, he was summoned by a committee set up by the Centre to be quizzed abouthis meat-eating preferences. Golwalkar was part of the committee.

Credit: richichoraria/pixabay

The following is an excerpt from a biography of Pushpa Mittra Bhargava, currently in preparation by Chandana Chakrabarti, and from a biography of Verghese Kurien. Bhargava passed away on August 1, 2017. He was 89years old. The excerpts have been lightly edited for style.

The year 1966 witnessed a mass agitation against cow slaughter organised by the [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)]. The demand was for a complete ban on cow slaughter in the country. It culminated in a huge demonstration lead by sadhus who tried to storm the Parliament house in Delhi. While the Shankaracharya of Puri went on a fast for the cause, the frenzied mob went on a rampage. A 48-hour curfew had to be imposed to control the situation.

It was against this background that the Society for the Promotion of Scientific Temper held a public discussion at the Regional Research Laboratory in Hyderabad in 1967, on the relevance of a ban on cow slaughter, with Dr Pushpa Bhargava (PMB) chairing it. At this meeting, one of the speakers, Dr P. Ramchander, a well-known physician, said, If we dont eat the cows, the cows will eat us. This caught the headlines of newspapers the following day. The statement offended those who were asking for the ban and PMB promptly started receiving verbal threats. Questions were asked as to how could PMB organise such a meeting in a government laboratory.

Subsequently, the Government of India set up a high power committee headed by Justice Sarkar, a former Chief Justice of India, to look into the issue. Guru Golwalkar, the head of RSS, Shankaracharya of Puri, Verghese Kurien (the Milk Man of India), and H.A.B. Parpia, the director of the Central Food Technological Research Institute, were members of the committee. PMB was summoned to Delhi to give evidence before the committee.

When PMB arrived at Krishi Bhavan to appear before the committee, a man sitting in the waiting room immediately started quizzing him about cow slaughter. His questions were unending: was PMB a Brahmin since Bhargavas are supposed to be Brahmins?; did PMB eat meat?; if he does eat meat he surely does not eat cows meat?; how does the body make meat?; and so on. PMB ended up giving the man a crash course in elementary biochemistry, saying that we eat food which has proteins. Those proteins are broken down in our [gastrointestinal]tract into amino acids, which are absorbed into the blood stream, and they go to various organs, where they get reconverted to proteins. But how is milk made, the man asked. Milk is made exactly in the same way as meat, PMB replied. Then why dont you drink milk instead of eating meat, the man asked. Why dont you eat meat like you drink milk, because both are made the same way, PMB replied. To PMBs surprise, this little encounter proved to be a curtain-raiser to what unfolded when he appeared before the committee.

Inside the meeting room, Guru Golwalkar asked PMB exactly the same questions. And when PMB replied to Golwalkars question, as to why he did not drink milk instead of eating meat, with another question that is, why by the same logic did Golwalkar not eat meat instead of drinking milk Golwalkarwent into a fit of rage. It took quite a while for the chairman and Sankaracharya to calm him down. Shankaracharya pleaded with Golwalkarthat he was spoiling their case. After PMB came out, he got a slip from Justice Sarkar asking to meet him before he left. Justice Sarkar cheerfully told PMB that he was fantastic and added that the only person who did better than PMB was a professor of Sanskrit who appeared before the committee and quoted from ancient Indian literature on the advantages of eating beef.

As it turns out several years later, while collecting material for a joint paper on biology in India from ancient times to 1900, PMB and I stumbled across the following statement made in the Charaka Samhita:

The flesh of the cow is beneficial for those suffering from the loss of flesh due to disorders caused by an excess of vayu, rhinitis, irregular fever, dry cough, fatigue, and also in cases of excessive appetite resulting from hard manual work.

Three decades later, PMB went to see Kurien in Anand, Gujarat, along with a friend. When PMB reminded Kurien about the incident, Kurien told him that over the years when he and Golwalkar became close friends, the latter admitted to him that the cow protection agitation was only a political agitation which he started to actually embarrass the government. Kurien would later describe this episode in his biography, which was titled I Too Had a Dream.

One day after one of our meetings when he had argued passionately for banning cow slaughter, he came to me and asked, Kurien, shall I tell you why Im making an issue of this cow slaughter business ?

I said to him, Yes, please explain to me because otherwise you are a very intelligent man. Why are you doing this ?

I started a petition to ban cow slaughter actually to embarrass the government, he began explaining to me in private. I decided to collect a million signatures, for this work I traveled across the country to see how the campaign was progressing. My travels once took me to a village in Uttar Pradesh. There, I saw in one house a woman who, having fed and sent off her husband to work and her two children to school, took this petition and went from house to house to collect signatures in that blazing summer sun. I wondered to myself why this woman should take such pains. She was not crazy to be doing this. This is when I realised that the woman was actually doing it for her cow, which was her bread and butter, and I realised how much potential the cow has.

Look at what our country has become. What is good is foreign;what is bad is Indian. Who is a good Indian? Its the fellow who wears a suit and a tie and puts on a hat. Who is a bad Indian? The fellow who wears a dhoti. If this nation does not take pride in what it is and merely imitates other nations, how can it amount to anything ? Then I saw that the cow has potential to unify the country she symbolises the culture of Bharat. So I tell you what, Kurien, you agree with me to ban cow slaughter on this committee and I promise you, five years from that date, I will have united the country. What Im trying to tell you is that Im not a fool, Im not a fanatic. Im just cold-blooded about this. I want to use the cow to bring out our Indianness. So please cooperate with me on this.

Chandana Chakrabartiis a biologist, consultant and joint secretary of the P.M. Bhargava Foundation, Hyderabad.

What to read next:

Categories: Featured, History, Politics, Science

Tagged as: beef, biochemistry, Cow slaughter, Guru Golwalkar, Justice Sarkar, nationalism, Pushpa Mittra Bharghava, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Verghese Kurien

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When P.M. Bhargava's Biochemistry Lesson on Beef Threw ... - The Wire

More than 4,400 University of Nebraska-Lincoln students have been named to the Deans List for the spring semester of the 2016-17 academic year.

The following students from the Panhandle were honored:

Alliance: Alexandra Stich, freshman, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, animal science; Anthony Hare, sophomore, College of Business, accounting; Bailey OConnor, junior, College of Business, economics; Kevin Allen, senior, College of Engineering, computer engineering.

Broadwater: Jaslyn Livingston, senior, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, applied science.

Chappell: Nash Leef, freshman, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, environmental studiesagronomy.

Sidney: Anna Wistrom, senior, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, environmental restoration science; Caitlyn Deal, sophomore, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, veterinary science; Rose Nelson, junior, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, microbiology; LaNaya Gutierrez, senior, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, hospitality, restaurant and tourism management; Megan Neal, sophomore, College of Arts and Sciences, biological sciences; Hayden Lienemann, sophomore, College of Business, accounting; Calder Rosdail, junior, College of Business, accounting; Abigail Nguyen, sophomore, College of Business, marketing; Nicholas Castner, senior, College of Business, marketing; Ryan Birner, sophomore, College of Education and Human Sciences, pre-social science; Jordan Kennedy, senior, College of Education and Human Sciences, elementary education; Morgan Wolff, junior, College of Education and Human Sciences, elementary education and special education (K-6); Spencer Ellwanger, freshman, College of Engineering, civil engineering.; Logan Uhlir, freshman, College of Engineering, computer engineering; Mia Hernandez, sophomore, College of Journalism and Mass Communications, advertising and public relations.

Scottsbluff: Tiffany Adamson, junior, College of Arts and Sciences, psychology; Andrew Cook, junior, College of Arts and Sciences, biochemistry; Tyler McCarthy, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, classics and religious studies; Daniel Schaub, junior, College of Arts and Sciences, political science; Lawrence SeminarioRomero, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, mathematics.; Jedediah Weis, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, biological sciences; Derrick Goss, senior, College of Education and Human Sciences, secondary English grades 7-12; Alyssa Hoxworth, senior, College of Education and Human Sciences, elementary education; Lucas Parsley, senior, College of Education and Human Sciences, social science; Forrest Selvey, senior, College of Education and Human Sciences, elementary education and special education (K-6); Anna Torres, senior, College of Education and Human Sciences, elementary education; Matthew DeHaven, senior, College of Engineering, computer engineering.

Gering: Johnathon Boyd, junior, College of Arts and Sciences, history; Shelby Cripps, junior, College of Arts and Sciences, anthropology; Emily Hauck, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, environmental studies; Kali Rimington, junior, College of Arts and Sciences, psychology; Megan Copsey, sophomore, College of Business, management; Jasie Beam, junior, College of Business, management (entrepreneurship & innovation); Kyle Upp, junior, College of Business, finance; Karlie Johnson, sophomore, College of Education and Human Sciences, pre-elementary education; Katherine Stauffer, senior, College of Education and Human Sciences, elementary educationand early childhood education; Kayla Todd, senior, College of Education and Human Sciences, elementary education; Jared Powers, junior, College of Engineering, mechanical engineering; Austin Robinson, junior, College of Engineering, construction management.

Chadron: Lane Chasek, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, English; Shoilee Rahman, sophomore, College of Business, business administration; Jayden Garrett, sophomore, College of Education and Human Sciences, nutrition and health sciences (nutrition, exercise and health science option).

Kimball: Laura Flores, junior, College of Arts and Sciences, ethnic studies.

Mitchell: Aubree Ford, junior, College of Arts and Sciences, biochemistry; Valeria Rodriguez, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, Spanish; Rachel Beeney, freshman, College of Education and Human Sciences, pre-speech-language pathology; Kalesha Hessler, senior, College of Education and Human Sciences, elementary education; Olivia Michael, sophomore, College of Education and Human Sciences, pre-elementary education.

Chadron: Brittany Kouba, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, global studies.

Gurley: Tessa Lukesh, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, English.

Bridgeport: Jeff Post, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, chemistry; Kristen Fellhoelter, junior, College of Business, marketing.

Minatare: Elisabeth Wright, junior, College of Arts and Sciences, anthropology; JaLee Pilkington, senior, College of Journalism and Mass Communications, advertising and public relations.

Gering: McKenna Copsey, sophomore, College of Education and Human Sciences, hospitality, restaurant and tourism management.

Rushville: Cirsten Hinn, senior, College of Education and Human Sciences, speech-language pathologist.

Potter: Rebekah Hutchinson, sophomore, College of Education and Human Sciences, speech-language pathologist; Luke Johnson, senior, College of Engineering, agricultural engineering; Kenna Smith, senior, Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, theatre.

Gordon: Denie Jacobson, junior, College of Education and Human Sciences, textiles, merchandising and fashion design (merchandising).

Hyannis: Isabel Safarik, junior, College of Education and Human Sciences, mathematics.

Gordon: Nicholas Sasse, senior, College of Engineering, construction management.

Qualification for the Deans List varies among the eight undergraduate colleges. All qualifying grade-point averages are based on a four-point scale and a minimum of 12 or more graded semester hours. Students can be on the Deans List for more than one college.

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Panhandle students among 4400-plus Nebraska students named to Deans' List - Scottsbluff Star Herald

New Delhi The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has extended till August 3 the last date of admission for its PhD and MPhil programmes.

IGNOU has invited applications for MPhil in chemistry and geography, PhD in biochemistry, chemistry, French, gender and development studies, geography, geology, journalism and mass communication, fine arts, physics, theatre arts, statistics and womens studies.

IGNOUs research unit director K Barik has said that the last date for PhD and MPhil programmes has been extended till 3 August.

The entrance test for various programmes will be held on August 20 in selected examination centres across the country.

The University, which began academic programmes in 1987, today enrols over three million students in India and other countries through 21 schools of studies and a network of 67 regional centres, around 2,667 learner support centres and 29 overseas partner institutions.

Original post:
IGNOU's PhD, MPhil admission date extended to Aug 3 - Hindustan Times

A ribbon diagram of the three-part efflux pump of the Campylobacter jejuni bacterium. Credit: Edward Yu/Iowa State University

Two new discoveries from Edward Yu's Iowa State University laboratory are adding to the scientific understanding of how bacteria resist antibiotics.

Yu and his research group have just described two structures and mechanisms - efflux pumps and reinforced cell walls - that certain disease-causing bacteria use to keep antibiotics away. That understanding could one day lead to new treatments that disable the structures and restore the effectiveness of drugs.

"We study a lot of efflux pumps to understand antibiotic resistance," said Yu, an Iowa State professor with appointments in physics and astronomy; chemistry; biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology; and the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. "Cell wall remodeling is also a major mechanism to work against antibacterial drugs.

"The structure and mechanism depend on the bacteria you're talking about - and the bacteria will find a way."

Two journals have just published the latest findings by Yu's research group:

Previous studies reported the three molecules of the pump worked in a synchronized rotation - one molecule accessing, one molecule binding and one molecule extruding - to pump antibiotics from the cell. Yu's research group found that each part of the pump worked independently of the others, essentially creating three pumps in one structure.

"The three independent pumps make it a more powerful multidrug efflux pump," Yu said.

The paper focuses on how these bacteria transport hopanoid lipid compounds to their outer cell membranes. The compounds contribute to membrane stability and stiffness.

"Overall our data suggest a novel mechanism for hopanoid transport involved in cell wall remodeling, which is critical for mediating multidrug resistance in Burkholderia," the authors wrote in a project summary.

Grants from the National Institutes of Health supported both studies. Grants from the U.S. Department of Energy also supported ultra-bright, high-energy X-ray experiments at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

Yu and his research group have a long history of successfully using X-ray crystallography to describe and understand the structure of pumps, transporters and regulators in bacteria. A gallery on his research group's website shows ribbon diagrams of 21 different structures.

Because of Yu's significant contribution to the understanding of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria, the American Academy of Microbiology elected him to be an academy fellow earlier this year.

With that comprehensive understanding of the structures and mechanisms behind bacterial resistance to antibiotics, Yu said his research group is beginning to look at how the pumps and transporters can be turned off.

"We're trying to find an inhibitor compound," Yu said. "We're thinking about doing a little more translational science. We have a lot of rich information about the structure and function of these pumps. Why not use it?"

Explore further: Scientists describe protein pumps that allow bacteria to resist drugs

More information: Chih-Chia Su et al, Structures and transport dynamics of a Campylobacter jejuni multidrug efflux pump, Nature Communications (2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00217-z

Nitin Kumar et al. Crystal structures of theBurkholderia multivoranshopanoid transporter HpnN, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1619660114

Continued here:
Researchers describe structures, mechanisms that enable bacteria to resist antibiotics - Phys.Org

Decoding aging is one complicated process that scientists across globe are busy working on.

While a revolutionary breakthrough is still awaited, a group of scientists from Allahabad have developed unique model of rat which can go a long way in helping them find a formula to control the process.

Perhaps taking a cue from Bollywood blockbuster Paa, the scientists have developed a model of rat which displays a higher rate of aging.

The accelerated aging model of rat provides a great tool for scientists to study aging and also to test anti-aging drugs, claims prof SI Rizvi from the Biochemistry department of Allahabad University (AU).

Rizvi is leading the research team.

The teams findings and achievement have been published in the recent issue of the prestigious research journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications published from US.

Explaining his new research, prof Rizvi said that his team created a rat model which mimics the human condition of Progeria, a disease in which the patient starts to show a faster rate of aging.

Progeria syndrome was highlighted in the acclaimed Hindi movie Paa wherein the character was portrayed effectively by Amitabh Bachchan.

Progeria is a rare genetic condition that causes a childs body to age fast. Most kids with progeria do not live past the age of 13. The disease affects both sexes and all races equally. It affects about 1 in every 4 million births worldwide. Medical experts believe that India has around 8-10 reported cases of progeria and potentially 66 unreported cases.

To study aging, scientists rely on animal models such as C elegans (an earthworm), fruit flies, and mice. The consideration for choosing an animal is primarily based on its lifespan. Shorter lifespan provides an opportunity to study age-dependent changes in a shorter time frame.

To create the Progeria model of rat, the Allahabad University scientists subjected normal rats to chronic treatment of 30 days with dihydrotachysterol, a chemical similar to vitamin D. A look into relevant scientific literature reveals that very few studies have been conducted on such a model of rat.

Normal experimental rats have a lifespan of two years, which is too large a time for conducting experiments. The rat model mimicking Progeria provides a very good model to study aging process in a short span of time, added prof Rizvi.

The young progeria-mimicking rats display a certain level of oxidative stress (an established hallmark of aging) equivalent to old age rats.

The research group will now test Metformin, a common anti-diabetic drug, as an experimental anti-aging drug on increased aging model rats. Initial results using Metformin as an anti aging drug have been very exciting, added prof Rizvi.

See the article here:
Allahabad University scientists create 'accelerated ageing model' in ... - Hindustan Times

Marek Michalak, a professor in the University of Alberta's Department of Biochemistry and graduate student Wen-An Wang were part of the team that discovered a direct link between calcium and cholesterol. Credit: Melissa Fabrizio

It's well known that calcium is essential for strong bones and teeth, but new research shows it also plays a key role in moderating another important aspect of healthcholesterol.

Scientists at the University of Alberta and McGill University have discovered a direct link between calcium and cholesterol, a discovery that could pave the way for new ways of treating high blood cholesterol.

The researchers began the work after having their curiosity piqued while studying the role of a calcium-binding protein. They noticed an extreme rise of blood cholesterol concentration in mice when the protein was not present. To follow up on this observation, Marek Michalak with graduate student Wen-An Wang (University of Alberta) and Luis Agellon (McGill University) teamed up with geneticist Joohong Ahnn (Hanyang University, Korea) and discovered that the physiological link between calcium and cholesterol is also preserved in worms.

"There is a mechanism inside the cell that senses when there is not enough cholesterol present and turns on the machinery to make more," said Michalak, a distinguished university professor in the University of Alberta's Department of Biochemistry. "What we found is that a lack of calcium can hide cholesterol from this machinery. If you lose calcium, your synthetic machinery thinks there's no cholesterol and it starts making more even if there is already enough."

High blood cholesterol is a known risk factor for developing heart disease. "Factors that affect blood cholesterol concentration have been studied for a long time," said Agellon, a professor at McGill's School of Human Nutrition. "The general belief was that cholesterol controlled its own synthesis inside of cells, and then we discovered in our labs that calcium can control that function too. Finding this link potentially opens a door to developing new ways of controlling cholesterol metabolism."

The researchers consider their finding a significant step toward developing different approaches to patient care in the future, but there is more work to be done. They are now looking to discover the common factor that allows calcium and cholesterol to communicate with each other in the cell and have received a four-year grant worth $456,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to continue their work.

Explore further: What you need to know about cholesterol

More information: Wen-An Wang et al, Loss of Calreticulin Uncovers a Critical Role for Calcium in Regulating Cellular Lipid Homeostasis, Scientific Reports (2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-05734-x

See more here:
Scientists uncover a hidden calcium cholesterol connection - Phys.org - Phys.Org

Titan, partially obscured by Saturns rings. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Saturns moon Titan is a world of contrast; both eerily familiar and strikingly alien. Its calm seas and enormous sand dunes might remind you of Earth, until you learn that whats flowing across Titans surface is not water, but liquid hydrocarbons. Titans nitrogen-rich atmosphere seems to have some of the ingredients for biology, but any life forms evolved to thrive at temperatures of -290 degrees Fahrenheit would be practically unrecognizable.

A new scientific paper supports the idea that life might exist on Titan, but that it would be nothing like life as we know it. After studying spectroscopic data collected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub millimeter Array (ALMA) in northern Chile, researchers are now reporting that Titans atmosphere is rife with vinyl cyanide, a molecule that could, in theory, form cell-like membranes under the moons unique environmental conditions.

In fact, based on the levels of vinyl cyanide present in Titans atmosphere, its seas couldin theory, were not saying there are aliensbe bubbling with tiny cell membranes, with concentrations similar to those of bacteria in Earths oceans.

The membranes that enclose the cells of all living things here on Earth are made of phospholipids, molecules with long, non-polar (water-repelling) tails and polar (water-loving) heads. If you remember high school biology, youll know that phospholipids form a bi-layer, with the water-loving parts on the outside, and the water-repelling bits on the inside. This structure allows membranes to bubble off tiny pockets of water from their surroundings, creating cells that house genetic material and support biochemical reactions.

Thats all well and good for organisms evolved to thrive in the temperate, liquid water seas here on Earth, but the membranes our biology uses simply wouldnt work in the cryogenic methane seas of Titan. (Theyd be far too rigid, and water-loving/water-repelling bits would have to be reversed.) So, what could cells on Titan look like? Two years back, researchers at Cornell University used chemical models to attempt to answer that very question. Through those models, they produced a functional cell membrane that remained stable and flexible at incredibly low temperatures, using none other than C2H3CN, or vinyl cyanide.

They called their hypothetical alien cell an azotosome.

What makes vinyl cyanide potentially useful molecule for this is that its amphiphilicit has a polar and a non polar end, just like our membranes phospholipids, Maureen Palmer, a recent graduate of St. Olaf College and lead author on the new study,explained. It would be sort of the same but sort of the opposite of how cell membrane lipids work on Earth, with the polar bits on the inside, and the non-polar bits on the outside.

It was a fascinating hypothesis, but there was one problemnobody had ever confirmed that vinyl cyanide is actually present on Titan. (NASAs Cassini spacecraft found tentative evidence for the molecule several years back.) Palmerand her colleagues decided to fill in this gap, by examining calibration data ALMA collects at Titan before turning its telescopes to stare at other targets. Sure enough, they found compelling evidence that large amounts of vinyl cyanide are present in Titans atmospheremainly, at altitudes greater than 200 kilometers. The research was published today in Scientific Reports.

When I sent the paper to Jonathan Lunine, Cornell astronomer and co-author on the 2015 study positing the existence of azotosomes, he said it was quite gratifying to see that acrylonitrile, or vinyl cyanide, does indeed seem to be present in Titans atmosphere.

Of course, life as we know it would be more likely to emerge in the vast seas on Titans surface than high up in the sky. But as Palmer and her colleagues point out, rainfall is constantly transporting organic compounds to Titans surfaceand those could include vinyl cyanide. It should be reaching the surface, she said. Titan has lots of rain.

In fact, in Ligeia Mare, a methane sea larger than Michigans Lake Superior located near Titans north pole, Palmer and her colleagues estimate there could be as many as 30 million azotosomes per cubic centimeter of sea water. For comparison, costal ocean waters on Earth have about a million bacteria per cubic centimeter, according to one papers estimate.

This is a crucial point and lab experiments ought to be done, Lunine added. Palmer agreed.

Im hoping someone will do a study of trying to form the membranes in the lab, seeing if theyre actually able to form, she said. Her co-authors are currently trying to better constrain the abundance and distribution of vinyl cyanide in Titans atmospherethis first paper was just a rough look. Theyre also searching for evidence of other biologically-relevant molecules on Titan. Also this week, another team of scientists reported the detection of carbon chain anionspotential building blocks of complex biomoleculesin Titans upper atmosphere, using data from Cassini.

Ultimately, resolving the question of whether or not Titan is home to some seriously weird life forms will require a future mission that can land on its surfacemaybe a cryogenic methane-proof submarine. Palmer is definitely rooting for a lander.

I love Titan, Palmer said. Its super interesting as an astrobiology target, because all forms of life we know of on Earth have water as the solvent, but it has liquid methane. It would be a totally different form of biochemistry, if there was life on Titan. I find that possibility fascinating.

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Molecules That Could Form 'Cell-Like' Membranes Spotted on Saturn's Largest Moon - Gizmodo

A champion of modern molecular genetics, Model asked questions that changed the way research was conducted. (Photo by Ingbert Grttner, 1988)

Peter Model, an emeritus faculty member who spent the major part of his career at The Rockefeller University, died on June 9 at the age of 84, after a brief period of declining health. Model used genetics, biochemistry, and molecular biology to study the f1 phage, a type of virus that infects Escherichia coli bacteria. His work provided valuable details about the way genes express themselves and control one another.

Peter brought an incisive, inquisitive mind to his research, and was often responsible for the astute question that would push an investigation in the right direction, noted Rockefeller President Richard P. Lifton in a message to university faculty and staff. He enjoyed the camaraderie of his fellow scientists, served as an informal mentor to many junior faculty members who sought his advice, and was an active member of the Rockefeller community until very recently.

Born in Frankfurt in 1933 during the rise of the Nazis, Model and his parents escaped in 1942 to settle in New York. As a young man, he studied economics at Cornell University and Stanford University, served in the United States Army as a first lieutenant, and worked in his fathers investment banking business for a period before earning a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Columbia University.

Peter was a remarkable person who straddled many worlds, says Jeffrey V. Ravetch, Theresa and Eugene M. Lang Professor and head of the Leonard WagnerLaboratory of Molecular Genetics and Immunology at Rockefeller, who was a student in Models lab in the mid-1970s. Perhaps because of his background in economics and finance, he had a different way of looking at things, and he became a great champion of using new approaches in the lab. He was viciously smart, and he always valued substance over style.

When many other people began working with mammalian systems, Peter stuck to his focus on bacterial genetics and remained true to the essence of microbial systems, Ravetch adds. He saw that they would continue to yield valuable discoveries.

Model arrived at Rockefeller in 1967, joining the laboratory of the late Norton Zinder as a postdoctoral fellow. Named assistant professor in 1969 and associate professor in 1975, he was promoted to full professor in 1987. He and Zinder worked closely together in the laboratory, and Model became co-head of the lab in 1987. From 1992 to 1995, he also served as associate dean of curriculum under deans Bruce McEwen and later Zinder.

Bacterial viruses, or phages, are among the simplest of biological entities and contain only a handful of genes. Models work with them opened a number of new lines of research. He championed the use of several modern molecular genetic techniques, and used these methods to examine, among other things, how phage proteins translocate across bacterial membranes. He developed phage display, which became a widely used method for identifying interactions between proteins. Using this and other techniques, he explored key biochemical processes in the lifecycles of phages.

Models strong commitment to the education and training of younger scientists led him to serve as the primary advisor for a number of graduate students and postdocs during his tenure at Rockefeller.

Peter had a way of asking questions that could change the direction of research, says his wife, Rockefeller associate professor Marjorie Russel, with whom he collaborated. He was famous for incorporating his knowledge from diverse areas and putting everything together in ways that no one else had ever thought of before. Often, after talking to Peter, his students and colleagues would go back to their lab benches with completely new ideas about what to do and where to go with their research.

In addition to his wife, Model is survived by his children, Paul and Sascha; his brother, Allen; and four grandchildren, as well as many other relatives and friends.

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Geneticist and Rockefeller emeritus Peter Model dies at 84 - The Rockefeller University Newswire