University of Washington
In its 4.5 billion years, Earth has evolved from its hot, violent birth to the celebrated watery blue planet that stands out in pictures from space. But in a new book, two noted astrobiologists say the planet already has begun the long process of devolving into a burned-out cinder, eventually to be swallowed by the sun.
America's top college graduates increasingly reject careers in science and engineering, researchers have found, raising concerns about America's technological future. Faced with the prospect of low-paid apprenticeships and training lasting a decade or more ? and constricted job opportunities even after that ? more of the brightest young Americans are instead pursuing the quicker and surer payoffs offered by business and certain professions, according to the Washington study. "With the notable exception of biological sciences, many of the top U.S. students with potential to become scientists are turning toward other career paths," said one of the study's co-authors.
Social support may play a small but potentially important role in helping HIV-positive people adhere to the complicated schedules for taking their drug "cocktails" to control the virus that causes AIDS. A pilot study of primarily indigent black and Puerto Rican men and women at an HIV clinic in New York City suggested that individuals who had the social support they needed were more likely to take their medications. The pilot project was part of a larger study to assess the efficacy of peer support to enhance people's adherence to their cocktail or Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy.
For over 30 years, physicians have assumed that any expectant mother with genital herpes lesions at delivery must deliver her baby by Caesarian section to minimize chances of transmission of the disease to the infant, although there was no clinical or research information supporting that practice. A study by University of Washington physicians confirms that Caesarian section is indeed the way to go to prevent transmission of HSV (herpes simplex virus).
Rocks deposited by glaciers on mountain ranges in West Antarctica have given scientists the most direct evidence yet that parts of the ice sheet are on a long-term, natural trajectory of melting. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet has been melting and contributing water continuously to the ocean for the last 10,000 years and is likely to keep doing so, says John Stone, University of Washington associate professor of Earth and space sciences. Measuring and understanding changes in the Earth?s ice sheets over the past few decades, and predicting their future behavior are major challenges of modern glaciology. But it is important to view these changes in the context of what?s been happening naturally over centuries and millennia. This work establishes a background pattern of steady decline in the West Antarctic ice sheet.
When members of two species compete directly with each other, scientists believe the one that rolls with the evolutionary punches and adapts most quickly has the upper hand. But new evidence suggests that in relationships that benefit both species, the one that evolves more slowly has the advantage. "The idea that has been dominant for the last couple of decades is that when two species co-evolve, they try to outrun each other," said Carl Bergstrom, a University of Washington assistant zoology professor. But that doesn?t necessarily hold true for individuals of different species engaged in a mutualistic, or symbiotic, relationship. In such cases, he said, the one that evolves more slowly is likely to gain a disproportionate share of benefits from the relationship.
Researchers have applied studies in how proteins bind with different molecules to create a molecular switch that enables them to turn an enzyme on and off. The innovation holds promise for a wide range of laboratory processes, including highly targeted drug therapies. The study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, describes a reversible switch for the enzyme endoglucanase in which light is the trigger for turning the switch on and off.
A University of Washington study is the first to provide visualizations of tuberculosis infections in an intact living organism and reveals how tuberculous granulomas, the tight aggregates of macrophages that are the hallmarks of this infection, are formed within infected organisms (Macrophages are a specialized class of white blood cells that patrol tissues and ingest foreign particles, such as bacteria and viruses, as well as dead and dying cells. Macrophages provide the backbone of the immune system.)
For several years it has been widely believed that increased ultraviolet-B radiation because of thinning of atmospheric ozone was a major culprit in deforming amphibian offspring and dwindling populations. Now two new studies cast serious doubt on that assumption, and the lead author of one says the belief could have had negative impacts on efforts to save amphibians. "All of the concentration on UV might have misdirected our conservation and research priorities," said Wendy Palen, a University of Washington zoology doctoral student.
An accepted assumption in astrophysics holds that it takes more than 1 million years for gas giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn to form from the cosmic debris circling a young star. But new research suggests such planets form in a dramatically shorter period, as little as a few hundred years. The forming planets have to be able to survive the effects of nearby stars burning brightly, heating and dispersing the gases that accumulate around the giant planets. If the process takes too long, the gases will be dissipated by the radiation from those stars, said University of Washington astrophysicist Thomas R. Quinn.
Researchers have discovered a cellular basis for what many have long suspected: Men, as well as women, have a reproductive clock that ticks down with age. A recent study revealed that sperm in men older than 35 showed more DNA damage than that of men in the younger age group. In addition, the older men's bodies appeared less efficient at eliminating the damaged cells, which could pass along problems to offspring
A study involving almost 2,400 women has shown that a vaccine that prevents infection with one of the viruses linked to cervical cancer is generally safe and effective. In most of the world, cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death among women.
At least half of older adults with hypertension do not have their blood pressure controlled to normal levels, according to a survey of 5,888 patients around the country. The failure to control blood pressure to less than 140/90 mmHg may account for as much as 22 percent of myocardial infarctions and 34 percent of strokes in older adults, according to University of Washington researchers.
