Infrared images indicate the much warmer temperatures of a normal mouse (left) compared to a mouse unable to make ERR gamma (right). Credit: Salk Institute

A protein found in brown fat, but not typical white fat, is key to how the energy-burning brown fat cells function. While most fat cells in the human body store energy, everyone has a small subset of brown fat cells that do the opposite – burn energy and generate heat. Now, Salk researchers have discovered how the molecule ERRγ gives this “healthier” brown fat its energy-expending identity, making those cells ready to warm you up when you step into the cold, and potentially offering a new therapeutic target for diseases related to obesity.

“This not only advances our understanding of how the body responds to cold, but could lead to new...

1. Adipic acid is produced from a mixture of cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone called “KA oil”, i.e. ketone-alcohol oil. The KA oil is oxidized with nitric acid to give adipic acid, via a multistep pathway. Early in the reaction, the cyclohexanol is converted to the ketone, releasing nitrous acid. Among its many reactions, the cyclohex...

~ also known as polyepoxides; EP 828 acrylate; ED 20 acrylate; E 44, acrylate; YD 128 acrylate; Pacrosir VE 196, etc. is a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups.

Epoxy resins may be reacted either with themselves through catalytic homopolymerization, or with a wide range of co-reactants including polyfunctional amines, acids, phenols, alcohols, and thiols. These co-reactants are often called hardeners or curatives, and the cross-linking reaction is referred to as curing. Reaction of polyepoxides with themselves or with polyfunctional hardeners forms a thermosetting polymer. As of 2006, the epoxy industry amounts to more than US$5 billion in North America and about US$15 billion worldwide.

Chemical structure: C21H25ClO5...