21

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / cyclin and cellular division

« on: 28/01/2004 06:04:40 »

What are the pathological consequences of a deficiency in cyclin for mitotic cells?  

I understand the consequence of an excess is uncontrolled cellular reproduction which can lead to cancer, but what about the opposite?

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22

Chemistry / Yay, a chemistry section

« on: 20/01/2004 01:26:59 »

Thanks Chris!  [:p]

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23

Physiology & Medicine / validity of glycemic index

« on: 18/01/2004 03:28:40 »

A question for you nutrition freaks out there:

What is the validity of the glycemic index value of foods?  I've heard conflicting stories from credible sources about wether or not the glycemic index is an accurate measure of how healthy a food is for a diabetic.

For instance... comparing a pasta made with semolina vs one made with whole wheat, after subtracting grams of fiber, the semoline pasta only has maybe 5g more carbohydrate per serving.  (38g vs 33g)  But the whole wheat pasta has a lower glycemic index, which leads me to believe it has a less pronounced spike of insulin levels as it's digested.  (presumably because the complex carbohydrates have additional digestive steps to undergo before conversion to blood glucose)

Is this accurate?  Is it recommended for diabetics to eat lower glycemic index foods?

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24

Physiology & Medicine / Can clioquinol slow the progression of Alzheimer's Disease?

« on: 14/01/2004 09:05:09 »

Some study showed that the 100 year old drug clioquinol (used as an anti-fungal, i believe) can prevent the accumulation of copper and zinc in the brain, halting the progress of dementia.  

Apparently, they believe that these metals bond with a certain protein in the brain and converts oxygen to hydrogen peroxide, which is toxic to brain cells.  I'm not sure of the mechanism of how this works, nor how the drug works...maybe one of the medical types can explain?

25

Physiology & Medicine / What causes tinnitus?

« on: 15/12/2003 11:30:48 »

I've had tinnitus (ringing in the ears) since I was a teenager.  I'm not sure how it developed, I never listened to headphones very loud or very often..maybe from one too many blows to the head during football and wrestling.  I learned quickly to tune it out, however.  It's been over 10 years since I first got it.

But lately, it's been getting worse, sometimes the ringing is so loud it hurts.  Normal sound always overrides the ringing, even when it's really bad, so it doesn't interfere with my hearing, just with my sanity.  (especially when I'm trying to sleep!)

Is there a way to treat tinnitus or do I just need to readjust to the new level of volume?



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26

Technology / The ultimate in recycling technology

« on: 03/12/2003 21:20:46 »

I recently heard about a new technology that is capable of using high temperature and pressure to crack just about any organic compound into straight-chain hydrocarbons, acetic acid, elemental carbon, natural gases, and acids of any halogens that are present.  (For instance, it can take solid PVC and convert it into HCl, ethane, and a bit crude oil...it can also take things like tires and convert them to elemental carbon, crude oil, and sulfuric acid)  The entire machine is powered by burning a portion the natural gases it generates.  


Sound like fantasy?  The first plant is already being set up next to a Butterball Turkey factory to process turkey offal into saleable goods.  This guy has Con-Agra backing him, so presumably he won't be crushed by the oil conglomerate.  

Has anyone else heard of this tech?  Is it being perpetuated anywhere else but the US?  It has such amazing potential...as a race we need so much energy and we produce so much waste that it seems a perfect plan for curbing our waste products while also helping out with fuels until we figure out a way to derive energy from something other than burning stuff.

I wish I could point you to the link to the article I read, but Discover has since archived it into the "subscriber only" section.



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27

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Particle Adventure

« on: 15/11/2003 09:46:29 »

I've seen a few posts about quantum physics the last few days, so I thought I'd share this lovely web site.  It's a great, thorough, and easy to understand explanation of the basics of quantum mechanics.

http://particleadventure.org/particleadventure/frameless/startstandard.html

Have fun. (there's even stuff in there on magnetism, QuantumCat, you'll love it)

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28

Famous Scientists, Doctors and Inventors / Schrodinger

« on: 05/11/2003 10:13:04 »

In Irwin Schrodinger's book "What is Life?" he states that "the human organism feeds on negative entropy."  Discuss.  (Quantumcat, I know you're all about this guy!)



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29

That CAN'T be true! / the cost of ATP synthesis

« on: 05/11/2003 10:10:57 »

I heard that the human body creates and recycles, on average, 2 to 3 pounds of ATP a day.  If your body could not synthesize ATP and it had to be purchased from Sigma-Aldrich, this would cost you $20,000 to $30,000 a day to survive.  



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30

Complementary Medicine / Study of alternative healing modalities

« on: 05/11/2003 10:06:13 »

This came up in an older topic, but I'm tossing the idea around as something to do over the next summer.  

I would like to investigate the biophysical activity (if any) that occurs when a practitioner of "energy" healing methods practices his/her art.  I am specifically interested in reiki and qi gong, as those are the only two (in my mind) that bear even the slightest possibility of somehow being valid.  I'm going into this with a healthy dose of skepticism, but being a former student of both reiki and qi gong (before I discovered science), I have to say "damn, it works"  Now, wether it works due to psychosomatic effect or actual manipulation of energy in the body is another story.  I have personally observed bizarre biological effects that I would like to investigate further.  (from spontaneous healing to acts of inhuman ability)

I have several specific hypotheses in mind, but the theoretical background for them is quite lengthy, so I'll only go into on this board if someone requests.  

First things first, I need a way to measure the electrical and magnetic fields of the human body, even if it's only in a localized area.  Do any of you know of a technique for doing so?  


Secondly, I would like suggestions for test controls.  Obviously I would need to take the same measurements on non-practitioners and see if I can observe the same (if any) effects on their bodies when going through the same motions.  What kind of numbers should I be aiming for?  As many control subjects as test subjects?  Twice as many?  Half as many?

It's 3am and I need to go to bed, but I'd really like if any of you with an interest with biophysics, biochemistry,  and/or alternative medicine have some input.  






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31

Physiology & Medicine / Lung Recovery

« on: 05/11/2003 09:51:00 »

Does anyone know about how long it takes a nasty smoker's lung to clear up?  Say a person smoked cigarettes moderately for about 10 years...how long until lung function returned to normal?





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