jimmydasaint

What happened to your mother's cholesterol levels, and can this be replicated?

I remember hearing about organisms that are posited to be immortal. However, is this just a myth or are there organisms which can be considered immortal due to physical changes?

This would make sense to me. However, as a mechanism for how pulses affect cholesterol, is it a biochemical effect or is the fibre behaving as a physical barrier for consumed fats?

In response to the OP, I suspect that the authors know a reasonable amount about the biology of what they are saying. For example: http://blogs.plos.org/dnascience/2014/03/20/challenge-supremacy-dna-genetic-material/

One of my close friends told me that he had a suspicion that his thoughts were being read and transmitted, years ago. At first I thought that he had flipped or undergone a mental breakdown. However, he assured me that his thoughts were being read and that these private thoughts were spoken aloud by strangers in public places. Still worried, I urged him to seek medical help. However, he is now in contact with a growing number of individuals who say exactly the same thing and seem to undergo exactly the same routines. In short, it is very similar to the tactics of the Secret Police in Eastern European countries. His suggestion to this thread is that synthetic telepathy is now old news and that he fears it will be rolled out against the world, as part of a multi-pronged attack to control populations, as we are gripped by the rise of Fascism. Is this all crap? I have no idea but he did pass me to these sites for further info: http://www.stopos.info/os.pdf http://www.google.com/patents/US3951134 He still seems credible after all these years...

Sorry, I could not read the article as a non-registered person. However, a useful homologous study found the following: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199912233412603#t=articleDiscussion It appears that there is a combination therapy of anti IgE antibodies and anti-inflammatory drugs and that this combination has the effect of decreasing the allergic response. Other chemicals seem not to act on IgE connected to mast cells but down regulate the manufacture of IgE receptors.

I am a bit worried about the wide range of household products available which contain antibiotic. For example, at a rare visit to the supermarket, I noted that it was possible to obtain antibacterial toothpaste, washing up liquid, hand soap, washing powder, cream cleaners etc... I wonder if this over-use of antibacterial chemicals will raise a huge population of bacteria resistant to antibiotics? Has anyone tested for antibiotic resistance, and is there an environmental impact of which we are unaware - either in the human bacterial environment (gut, skin, nose, airways) or in the wider environment (household table tops, sewer water, waste water from homes)?

These studies are both mouse based studies and the evidence is a concern. However, it would be interesting to see the same phenomenon across different genetic strains of mice. The second study included C57 black mice and also CBA mice. I wonder what influenced the authors to choose these particular genetic strains. Are they more resistant or less resistant to genetic stress? Why not use the ubiquitous BALB/c white mice? Despite my doubts, if the findings can be applied to humans, these are pretty serious results. Does that mean that people in heavily populated cities are carrying germ line mutations which have affected their progeny for generations? I am worried!

That's exactly what I meant iNow. Thanks for the summary of my long-winded answer.

My point here was that scientific building of objective evidence and also causal relationships could easily be swept aside for political and economic expediency, even by fellow scientists. The work of scientists showing a direct causal relationship of cigarette components and cancer in laboratory animals was suppressed or minimised by commercial interests and, which is worse, by prominent scientists, who were in the pockets of the industry. I don't know how the cigarette industry was exposed but, if we believe Hollywood, it was Dr Wigand's appearance on 60 minutes which gave life to the causal relationship between cigarette smoking and its deleterious effects. Wigand Link Furthermore, I can also mention Semmelweiss, who made a connection between childbed fever and lack of hand washing. His findings conflicted with the consensus and were ignored until after his death: Wiki

Nice links dimreepr. Need to read through them now. Will get back to you. I read through both links with interest, although I just quickly scanned the wiki article because it was quite lengthy. From what I can tell, there are specific factors which affect climate. Add to these for clarification guys: 1) Latitude (as it increases, temperature decreases); 2) Large bodies of water (can affect overall temperatures of land nearby); 3) Windward (wet) or leeward (drier) parts of a slope; 4) Elevation ( higher means colder); 5) Ocean Currents, e.g. the thermohaline circulation you referred to above which bring warmth to the Northern Atlantic Ocean. The combinations lead to differences in temperature from region to region of the same country, as well as between countries. Therefore, the OP was just speculation and is not backed up with evidence.

I'm afraid that my response to the proposition that the scientific truth will eventually be found out is a cynical and tired comment: 'Bollocks!' In the real world, being in the right cliques, ass kissing and following the latest trend by the latest 'great man' of science seem to matter more in a grant application than someone who has an alternative theory for the same phenomenon. At least this was my experience as a research scientist... What about considering studies that were suggesting a causation of smoking with cancer being squashed by influential scientists (funded by the smoking industry) as a mere correlation? The hypothetico deductive method seems to be littered with the bodies of the insouciant and unwitting. Link

Very interesting. Yes, I can see that I made unfair comparisons for the countries that I chose. So it was only a perception then! What about the hemispheres by themselves? I should choose different countries at the same latitude from the equator to make a reasonably fair comparison. What about Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and France compared to Southern Argentina, Southern Autralia and New Zealand? Would that be an acceptable comparison about North and South? I see that the reports talked about average temperatures over both hemispheres at a large scale which misses out climatic differences in a single country and that is OK. However, it is a surprising result for me because I would not have expected people to flock to Northern hemispheres from the likes of Africa for warm holidays but it tends to be the case for people in Britain to go south when they want warmer climes. I suppose I am being excessively insular. http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/temp/jonescru/graphics/glnhsh.png

This is a brief question exposing my lack of knolwedge on this issue. However, on average, I am considering that most of Northern Europe (including e.g. Sweden, Norway and Scotland) is colder than Southern Europe closer to the Equator. However, why is it that Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand are considered hot countries when they are close to the South Pole? I would love to know the answer.

It indicates that suicide victims often show the presence of T gondii, a parasite protoctistan organism (with several warm blooded hosts, especially the cat). T gondii can cause cell inflammation which then releases metabolites which can cause inflammation of brain tissues. People with inflammation in the brain are often seen to have committed suicide, presumably after autopsy evidence. Science Daily Although this is interesting news and is also interesting science, are the premises strong enough for the conclusion are are they weak enough for other factors to be considered? Any comments?

A truly inspiring find. This vindicates the fact that we share this planet with other sentient and intelligent beings who deserve our respect. However, I think the gorillas should all be trained and armed with baseball bats to chase away any more callous poachers. Do the poachers deserve any better?

But what caused the rain?

The British bee population is decreasing. Of course, there are the usual biological factors to consider - lack of food, space, competition or the appearance of new predators, or a combination of the above. Bee experts have also speculated at the decline in bee numbers: Dan the Gardener Although Dan the Gardener is not giving references to peer reviewed journals, he is giving his experienced opinion on possible causes for the decline of numbers of bees. I am speculating that there is another cause that has not been considered - microwaves from our communications matrix called TETRA. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUc2DG9Cl64 Dr B Trower Report to the Police Federation of England and Wales IMHO, there is sufficient evidence from Dr Trower and other researchers to suggest that humans are affected by the communication networks which propagate microwave radiation. I am speculating that it is possible that bee reproduction or physiological functions are affected by microwaves and predict that numbers of bees will decline as our communication networks expand and mast numbers increase.

Interesting find Moontanman, I think the researchers looked at the every interesting Hox (or homeotic box) genes. IIRC, these genes are like a molecular 'flag' which are pointers for body parts to be made by the protein generating machinery of the cell. For example, some Hox genes may be responsible for organising head development and others for development of the thorax. I think the researchers found that the whole genome duplication allowed two sets of genes to be present simultaneousy in the organism for limbs etc... One set would be conserved whilst the other would act as a substrate for evolution events and could result in a new type of limb or body structure which would then be open to selection (or extinction) by the environment. ScienceDaily article

My research is very rusty and I have to strain my memory to the days when I performed Western Blots. However, if I have understood you properly, it is possible for explanation/hypothesis 1 shows crossreactivity of the antibody to other proteins of roughly the same relative molecular mass. However, it is also possible that some protein degradation may have occurred or for an oligomer to break up during the gel electrophoresis. A possible solution is to ask a friendly laboratory to make monoclonal antibody against P2 and, separately to P8 and then to re-do the blot or immunoprecipitations with these two on a gel. Last time I got two bands instead of one which was expected, I am pretty sure it was down to cross contamination of antigens

I always thought that identical twins are exactly as you described (and have to be the same gender because this is an example of natural cloning). However, IIRC, fraternal, or non-identical, twins are caused by two different sperms from the same father fertilising two different ova from the mother. Due to the 'gene shuffling' that occurs in the process of meiosis before sperm or eggs are made, the fraternal twins are likely to be different in both genes and looks. The example you gave of superfecundation where a mother can give rise to twins from two different fathers is, IMO, a much rarer event. Twins Meiosis Facts Meiosis Text

This cast some light on the OP:

Hi, to start with, I assume I am correct in this assumption, you should plot a graph of the independent variable on the x-axis and the dependent variable (what you measured) on the y-axis. If you are clear on this point, how do you work out concentrations? If I had a 0.25 mmol/L solution it contains 0.25 mmol per 1000 ml, so it should have 0.25/1000 mmol per each ml. Has the penny droppped yet?

I already knew about non verbal cues forming a greater part of communication amongst people than verbal communication. Body language for business However, I was surprised to find out that shoulder body language is also revealing. For example it can reveal mood, leadership potential, or even the extent to which someone may be telling the truth. This surprised me. Any thoughts? Link

This site may have some of the information you seek: Biology