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Benefits Of Grapefruit

Galaxy Zoo Hunters Help Astronomers Discover Rare 'Green Pea' Galaxies
A team of astronomers has discovered a group of rare galaxies called the "Green Peas" with the help of citizen scientists working through an online project called Galaxy Zoo. The finding could lend unique insights into how galaxies form stars in the early universe.
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Insured Immigrants Have Lower Medical Expenses Than Insured US-born Citizens
A nationally representative study found that immigrants spent less on medical expenses than their US-born counterparts, even after controlling for level of health insurance coverage and other confounding factors.
News of the day
Editorial Discusses Removal Of Needle Exchange Funding Ban
A Wilmington News Journal editorial discussed the potential lifting of the ban on using federal funding for needle exchange programs. The editorial notes recent Congressional action and the restrictions in a House bill that prohibit needle exchanges to operate "within a 1,000 feet of day care centers, schools, parks, playgrounds, pools and youth centers." According to the News Journal, "This rule wipes out much of the flexibility many cities need in their fight to prevent the spread of HIV among intravenous drug users. The nation"s capital, where the rates of HIV and AIDS cases are considered epidemic, would be hit the hardest because no part of the District of Columbia would be eligible for the funding according to AIDS Action." The editorial adds, "Vans patrolling near vulnerable populations - specifically young, impressionable children - are an issue that must be addressed. But well-intentioned limits should not be allowed to hold up the rest of the program," according to the News Journal (8/1).
Medical Devices

Uncovering How Cells Cover Gaps

Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, came a step closer to understanding how cells close gaps not only during embryonic development but also duringwound healing. Their study, published this week in the journal Cell, uncovers a fundamental misconception in the previous explanation for a developmental process called dorsal closure. Scientists study dorsal closure, which occurs during the development of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, to gain insights into wound healing in humans, as both processes involve closing a gap in the skin by stretching the surrounding epithelial cells over it. Dorsal closure involves three entities: the cells that fill the gap, called amnioserosa cells, a cable of the protein actin which runs around the gap, and the epithelial cells that eventually stretch over and seal the gap.Until now, scientists believed dorsal closure started when some unknown signal made the amnioserosa cells and the actin cable contract. The actin cable would then act like the drawstring on a purse together with the gradually contracting amnioserosa cells, it would pull the epithelial cells together until the gap was closed. By taking more pictures per minute researchers in Damian Brunner"s group at EMBL improved the time resolution of the movies generally used to study this process, and made an important observation. They found that amnioserosa cells pulse throughout their life, constantly contracting and relaxing their surfaces.With each contraction they transiently pull on the surrounding epithelial cells, and then relax, letting them go. By combining their movies with computer simulations, Aynur Kaya and Jerome Solon in Brunner"s group discovered that the actin cable doesn"t act as a drawstring, but rather as a ratchet. With every force pulse of the amnioserosa cells, the actin cable contracts and stops the epithelial cells from moving back away from the gap when the amnioserosa cells relax. This ratchetlike action means epithelial cells can move in only one direction: over the gap, bringing about dorsal closure. "Essentially, you have a field of cells that creates the driving force," Damian summarises, "and then you need to translate this force into movement by adding ratchets that lock the cells into the state where they should move". The researchers believe this mechanism could apply not only to dorsal closure and wound healing, but also to many developing tissues, since moving tissue around is central to development. European Molecular Biology Laboratory


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