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    Key Protein: Lab solves HOIL-1 Mystery

    June 19, 2019, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology

    A hydroxylamine-sensitive modification on HOIL-1

    The mysterious function of a key protein has been revealed following a breakthrough by University of Dundee scientists. HOIL-1 is a component of the Linear Ubiquitin Assembly Complex (LUBAC) which lies at the heart of the mechanism that determines whether the cells of our body will survive or die. Now researchers working in the laboratory of Professor Sir Philip Cohen in the University’s Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation Unit (MRC-PPU) have found that HOIL-1 operates in tandem with a second component of LUBAC to form ubiquitin chains.

    The research, which has just been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), has also revealed that the ubiquitin chains are joined to other protein...

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    NASA’s Fermi mission reveals its Highest-energy Gamma-ray bursts

    June 18, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Green dots show the locations of 186 gamma-ray bursts observed by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on NASA’s Fermi satellite during its first decade. Some noteworthy bursts are highlighted and labeled. Background: Constructed from nine years of LAT data, this map shows how the gamma-ray sky appears at energies above 10 billion electron volts. The plane of our Milky Way galaxy runs along the middle of the plot. Brighter colors indicate brighter gamma-ray sources.
    Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

    For 10 years, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has scanned the sky for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the universe’s most luminous explosions. A new catalog of the highest-energy blasts provides scientists with fresh insights into how they work.

    “Each burst is in some way unique,” said...

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    Topical Cream shows promise in Treatment of Skin Pigmentation disease, Vitiligo

    June 17, 2019, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Hands with vitiligo
    “Topical ruxolitinib has the potential to change the way vitiligo is treated. Not only is it effective at repigmenting the skin, but it has an excellent safety profile,” said Dr. Rosmarin.

    A nationwide phase II clinical trial, coordinated out of Tufts Medical Center in Boston, has found that a topical cream was extremely effective in reversing the effects of vitiligo, a relatively common autoimmune disease that causes loss of skin pigmentation. Topical application of the medicated cream, ruxolitinib, which is currently used as an oral treatment for certain blood disorders, resulted in substantial improvement of facial vitiligo symptoms in nearly half of the trial’s participants...

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    Breathing new Life into Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

    June 16, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Abstract Image
    Renaissance of Fused Porphyrins: Substituted Methylene-Bridged Thiophene-Fused Strategy for High-Performance Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

    Researchers have made a popular type of dye-sensitized solar cell (aromatic-fused porphyrin) more efficient by adjusting and updating their structure. The team report a series of adaptations with a power conversion efficiency of 10.7%, the highest yet for this kind of dye-sensitized solar cell, the most efficient solar technology available at present.

    Current dye-sensitized solar cells are made up of a porous layer of titanium dioxide covered with a molecular dye. As sunlight is taken in, electrons are excited as they pass through, and are collected for power, before being ‘recycled’, reintroduced into the electrolyte and back to the dye molecule...

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