Lifeboat Foundation

The tremendous rise in the economic burden of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has prompted a search for alternative and less expensive medicines. Dandelion offers a compelling profile of bioactive components with potential anti-diabetic properties. The Taraxacum genus from the Asteraceae family is found in the temperate zone of the Northern hemisphere. It is available in several areas around the world. In many countries, it is used as food and in some countries as therapeutics for the control and treatment of T2D. The anti-diabetic properties of dandelion are attributed to bioactive chemical components; these include chicoric acid, taraxasterol (TS), chlorogenic acid, and sesquiterpene lactones. Studies have outlined the useful pharmacological profile of dandelion for the treatment of an array of diseases, although little attention has been paid to the effects of its bioactive components on T2D to date. This review recapitulates previous work on dandelion and its potential for the treatment and prevention of T2D, highlighting its anti-diabetic properties, the structures of its chemical components, and their potential mechanisms of action in T2D. Although initial research appears promising, data on the cellular impact of dandelion are limited, necessitating further work on clonal β-cell lines (INS-1E), α-cell lines, and human skeletal cell lines for better identification of the active components that could be of use in the control and treatment of T2D. In fact, extensive in-vitro, in-vivo, and clinical research is required to investigate further the pharmacological, physiological, and biochemical mechanisms underlying the effects of dandelion-derived compounds on T2D.

Keywords: type 2 diabetes, dandelion, chlorogenic acid, chicory acid, taraxasterol, sesquiterpene.

Abbreviations: ADP — adenosine diphosphate; AFLD — alcoholic fatty liver disease; AMPK — adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase; ATP — adenosine triphosphate; cAMP — cyclic adenosine monophosphate; CGA — chlorogenic acid; CoA — coenzyme A; CRA — chicory acid; DAG — diacylglycerol; DBD — DNA-binding domain; DNA — deoxyribonucleic acid; DPPH — 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl; Dw — dry weight; FOS — fructose oligosaccharide; G6P — glucose-6-phosphate; GDP — guanosine 5’-diphosphate; GLP-1 — glucagon-like peptide 1; GLUT2 — glucose transporter 2; GLUT4 — muscle glucose transporter protein 4; GPCR — G protein-coupled receptor; GTP — guanosine triphosphate; HNB — 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzenaledehyde; HPLC — high-pressure liquid chromatography; IC₅₀ — half maximal inhibitory concentration; IDF — International Diabetes Federation; IDX-1 — islet duodenum homeobox 1; IL-1α — interleukin 1 alpha; INS-1E — rat insulinoma clonal beta-cell line; IR — insulin receptor; IRS-1 — insulin receptor substrate 1; Km — Michaelis constant; IP3 — inositol triphosphate; IRS-1 — insulin receptor substrate 1; LBD — ligand-binding domain; LC-DAD — liquid chromatography with (photo) diode array detection; LPS — lipopolysaccharide; MAPK — mitogen-activated protein kinase; NADH — nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide; NAFLD — non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; NF-κb — nuclear factor kappa B; NO — nitric oxide; PI3K — phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase; PKA — protein kinase A; PKC — protein kinase C; PPAR-γ — peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma; ROS — reactive oxygen species; RxR — retinoid X receptor; SEL — sesquiterpene lactones; SUR1 — sulphonylurea receptor 1; T2D — type 2 diabetes; TAG — triacylglycerol; TNF-α — tumor necrosis factor; TO — Taraxacum officinale; TS — taraxasterol; UPLC-MS/MS — ultra-performance liquid chromatography — tandem mass spectrometry; UV/VIS — ultraviolet visible; WHO — World Health Organization.

This could enable for microgrids for sewage disposal and more lucrative businesses in waste reclaiming through making essentially computers with waste.

A synthesis procedure developed by NITech scientists can convert fish scales obtained from fish waste into a useful carbon-based nanomaterial. Their approach uses microwaves to break the scales down thermally via pyrolysis in less than 10 seconds, yielding carbon nano-onions with unprecedented quality compared with those obtained from conventional methods. Credit: Takashi Shirai from NITech, Japan.

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Deltec Homes is changing the way the world builds. For over five decades, we have designed and engineered homes to fight climate change and withstand the harshest of weather conditions. The connections, both inside and out, that our homes provide make it truly the strongest home for people and our planet.

The engineering and innovation behind each Deltec is why they have stood against some of the most detrimental storms in history including direct hits from Hurricanes Dorian, Michael, Maria, Irma, Harvey, Sandy, Katrina, Hugo, Ivan and Charley.

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Samsung will soon launch another Galaxy Quantum smartphone in its home country. While previous Galaxy Quantum series phones were based on Galaxy A series devices, Samsung has changed that trend this time.

The Galaxy Quantum 3 has been revealed in South Korea, and it’s coming soon to SK Telecom’s network. The smartphone will be available for pre-order from April 22 to April 25, 2022. The first 10,000 buyers of the phone will get a Google Play gift card. Neither Samsung nor SK Telecom has revealed the price tag of the upcoming device.

The smartphone is based on the Galaxy M53 5G, which was silently revealed in Europe a few days ago. The Galaxy Quantum 3 features a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-O display with Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It features a 108MP primary rear camera, an 8MP ultrawide camera, a 2MP macro camera, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 32MP front-facing camera. It can record 4K 30fps videos using both front and rear cameras.

Right now everyone is talking about mRNA vaccines, such as the Biontech-Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine — but what about DNA-vaccines? Will this be a vaccine type of the future?

Vaccines have saved millions of lives in the past century and for now, they’re the best way out of this crisis. There are exciting new prospects, waiting in the wings. The practice of vaccinating dates back thousands of years through rabbit spines, powdered cowpox and fearless scientists. Today, viral vectors and mRNA technology have been instrumental in fighting COVID-19. With DNA vaccines another technique is already been tested.

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Sensitive information for some Microsoft customers were exposed by a misconfigured server, Microsoft Security Response Center said on Wednesday. The misconfigured endpoint was accessible on the Internet and did not require authentication.

The exposed information included names, email addresses, email content, company name, phone numbers, and files “relating to business between a customer and Microsoft or an authorized Microsoft partner,” the company said. The endpoint has already been secured to require authentication, and affected customers have been notified.

“This misconfiguration resulted in the potential for unauthenticated access to some business transaction data corresponding to interactions between Microsoft and prospective customers, such as the planning or potential implementation and provisioning of Microsoft services,” Microsoft said, noting that there is no indication that customer accounts or systems had been compromised.

The killer ground drone revolution is here.

Astrophysicists have performed a powerful new analysis that places the most precise limits yet on the composition and evolution of the universe. With this analysis, dubbed Pantheon+, cosmologists find themselves at a crossroads.

Pantheon+ convincingly finds that the cosmos is composed of about two-thirds dark energy and one-third matter—mostly in the form of dark matter—and is expanding at an accelerating pace over the last several billion years. However, Pantheon+ also cements a major disagreement over the pace of that expansion that has yet to be solved.

By putting prevailing modern cosmological theories, known as the Standard Model of Cosmology, on even firmer evidentiary and statistical footing, Pantheon+ further closes the door on alternative frameworks accounting for dark energy and dark matter. Both are bedrocks of the Standard Model of Cosmology but have yet to be directly detected and rank among the model’s biggest mysteries. Following through on the results of Pantheon+, researchers can now pursue more precise observational tests and hone explanations for the ostensible cosmos.

Just like a pianist who learns to play their instrument without looking at the keys or a basketball player who puts in countless hours to throw a seemingly effortless jump shot, UCLA mechanical engineers have designed a new class of material that can learn behaviors over time and develop a “muscle memory” of its own, allowing for real-time adaptation to changing external forces.

The material is composed of a structural system made up of tunable beams that can alter its shape and behaviors in response to dynamic conditions. The research finding, which boasts applications in the construction of buildings, airplanes and imaging technologies among others, was published Wednesday in Science Robotics.

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