Notes, news, and information on human and general molecular biology. My particular interests lie in immunology, cancer biology, pathology, and human evolution. I have a weakness for cute animal pictures.
Lobar haemorrhage from Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)
CAA is a frequent cause of parenchymal brain haemorrhage.
Insoluble 8-10nm-thick amyloid fibrils are deposited in the walls of leptomeningeal and cortical small arteries, arterioles and capillaries. Similar to small vessel disease, this process destroys normal vascular elements, makes vessels fragile, causes thickening, and impairs their permeability.This pathology causes ischemic and haemorrhagic lesions.
(via fyeahmedlab)
Has your line of work altered the way you think about or your attitude towards pets?
Yes — especially concerning purebred animals, or any type of pet which has been selectively bred in order to highlight superficial aesthetic traits for our own selfish enjoyments. Evolution is an incredibly long process when occurring naturally, yet we have forcefully pushed the morphological transformation of a few of these breeds without giving any consideration to the health problems associated with these choices.
Take the pug: it looks entirely different today than it did a short 300 years ago. That’s because we have been breeding them to accentuate their wrinkly faces, floppy ears, and most significantly their characteristic squished faces. The ‘squished face’ means that the pug has an extremely high cranial index, a ratio calculated by the maximum width of the head x 100 / maximum length. Dogs with extremely high or extremely low cranial indexes are subject to corresponding health problems. Pugs, with their extreme brachycephalic index, have an incredibly difficult time regulating their body temperature because of the lack of surface area in their mouth allowing for enough space to evaporate adequate amounts of moisture in order to cool down while they pant, meaning they are prone to overheating. They also have exaggerated ocular orbitals which give them their soulful baby eyes, but that also means their eyes are at eminent risk of popping directly out of the sockets if they sustain any amount of trauma to their heads. Throw into this equation the fact that we’ve shortened their legs and exaggerated their stature to give them a stocky build, and it means they have an even more challenging time getting enough exercise so many become terribly obese.
We see these snorting, panting, grunting little creatures as ‘adorable’, but I think it’s kind of sadistic and cruel in a way. I don’t put the blame on the dog, nor the people who adopt these creatures from shelters to give them good lives — after all, the dog didn’t choose to be this way, we did. I hope with some education about these topics humans can begin to curb their excessive need to continuously dominate over nature.
Sources:
1. William Hogarth, The Painter and his Pug, 1745.
2. Pug from about 1885.
3. Pug from the Pug Dog Page.
4. List of dogs with variable cephalic indexes.
(via scinerds)
Primatologist Jane Goodall and tiny chimpanzee Flint share a touching moment at Gombe Stream Reserve in Tanzania, East Africa, 1964
(via scinerds)
Numerous HIV-1 particles (pink) leave a cultured HeLa cell (brown). These viruses lack their vpu gene and thus cannot detach from the cell’s tethering factor, BST2. Each viron particle is ~120 nm in diameter. The image was captured with a Zeiss Merlin ultra hi-res scanning electron microscope.
Since 1987, the FDA has approved more than 30 antiviral drugs, including 12 HIV protease inhibitors and one integrase inhibitor. These drugs stop ~99% of viral replication, essentially transforming HIV infection from a deadly disease to a chronic one.
By Thomas Deerinck, NCMIR, USCD
(via molecularlifesciences)
“When I die, don’t open up a museum of magic in my name. Don’t give me a big stupid fancy coffin. No, what I want is to be cremated. Cremate me, and then blow my ashes into the eyes of Uri Geller.” - James Randi.
Calling things like homeopathy ‘alternative medicine’ or ‘complementary treatment’ is misleading and potentially damaging. Alternative implies that it is equal to medicine and therefore you have a choice of the two treatments which will both work just as well. Complementary treatment implies that it has some benefit and is worth trying alongside effective treatment.
I propose the new term ‘predatory treatments’. It should be obvious why: they prey upon the minds and bank accounts of people who do not know any better, often at times of desperate need.
This is the second James Randi video. This one is specifically about homeopathy. Seriously, please watch it. He’s such an amazing man.
The amazing James Randi on homeopathy/psychics/general bollocks. This is one of two videos I will post. He’s so amazing. Funny, informative.
The NHS spend four million pounds a year on homeopathy. Four million. Pardon?
I’d save them so much money if they hired me. Give me £2 for a few plastic cups and I’ll make you a homeopathic remedy from the kitchen tap. It’ll have fuck all effect on you, just like a real homeopathy wanker would prescribe, but you’ll feel lovely and hydrated.
ANN:
Manga artist Hirohiko Araki has drawn the cover of volume 130’s issue 5 of the American biological journal Cell, at the request of two Japanese authors published in this issue. Dr. Mitsutoshi Setou and Dr. Hiroshi Ageta are part of a team that identified a protein named SCRAPPER that helps regulate synaptic activity in the nervous system. Among other potential benefits, the findings reported in the “Ubiquitin Ligase for Synaptic Tuning” article will aid research on Alzheimer’s disease and strokes.
According to the issue, Araki’s art depicts SCRAPPER as a purple humanoid “putting blue heart-shaped ubiquitins on the red RIM creatures.” Araki drew the illustration with the scientific direction of Drs. Setou and Ageta.
(via bekindplzrewind)
