Popular Articles

Physically Active Elderly People Showed Healthier Cerebral Blood Vessels Than Those Who Are Not Active
New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine finds that aerobic activity may keep the brain young.

From Oxygen Transport To Melanin Formation: Activation Mechanism Of Key Enzymes Explained
Pandinus imperator, the emperor scorpion, is not only popular as a pet, but is also of interest for research purposes. The reason for this is its blue blood, which transports oxygen and distributes it throughout the body. Like tyrosinase, the key enzyme in melanin synthesis, the blue blood pigment hemocyanin found in the emperor scorpion and other arthropods belongs to a group of special molecules that occur in all organisms and that have many different functions: coloring the skin, hair and eyes, immune response, wound healing or the brown discoloration of fruit. "When these enzymes mutate, this may result in albinism, or in birth marks when production of the pigment melanin increases, as often seen in melanoma," explains Professor Heinz Decker of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. The biophysicist has been studying hemocyanins and the associated tyrosinases for the past 20 years. In cooperation with researchers, Dr. Cong and Dr. Chiu, from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston he has now been able to show for the first time exactly how the enzymes become active, thereby fulfilling their various functions. This work was published in the journal Structure on 13 May.
News of the day
LDR Announces FDA Clearance Of The ROI-C™ Cervical Cage
LDR, a total spine solution company, announced that it has begun to market its ROI-C™ cervical cage following 510(k) clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration. The ROI-C cage, when used with the company"s integrated VerteBRIDGE™ plating technology, offers a zero profile, stand-alone construct for fusion in the cervical spine. ROI-C addresses the growing interest within the market for stand-alone cervical fusion technology that reduces the need for thick cervical plates that may contribute to dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing.
Diagnostics

Obama Administration Silent On San Francisco Health Insurance Ordinance

"As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider a restaurant group"s challenge to San Francisco"s health coverage ordinance, one voice is noticeably silent: the Obama administration"s," The San Francisco Chronicle reports. "In contrast to President George W. Bush"s Labor Department, which unsuccessfully urged a federal appeals court to overturn the groundbreaking law, the new administration submitted no arguments before the July 10 deadline for briefs supporting or opposing Supreme Court review. President Obama, meanwhile, has praised the San Francisco program, the first of its kind in the nation, while pressing Congress to enact comprehensive health coverage." San Francisco"s "3-year-old program offers care to 73,000 uninsured adults not covered by the Medi-Cal program for the poor or Medicare for the elderly at a network of hospitals and clinics in San Francisco. More than 80 percent of the $200 million annual cost will come from state and local taxes and payment from patients, based on their incomes. The restaurant association"s lawsuit challenges the city"s authority to require large and midsize companies to pay the rest of the bill" (Egelko, 7/20). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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