Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Blog – Page 9325

University of Arkansas astrophysicists have taken an important step toward solving the mystery of how disk galaxies maintain the shape of their spiral arms. Their findings support the theory that these arms are created by a wave of denser matter that creates the spiral pattern as it travels across the galaxy.

“The structure of spiral arms in disk galaxies is a mystery,” said Ryan Miller, visiting assistant professor of physics. “No one knows what determines the shape of these spirals, or why they have certain numbers of arms. Our research provides a clear answer to part of that mystery.”

Disk galaxies, including the Milky Way, comprise 70 percent of known galaxies. They are characterized by their spiral-shaped arms, but astronomers are not sure how these form and maintain themselves.

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Worldwide, 50 million people are living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, every 65 seconds someone in the United States develops this disease, which causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior.

It has been more than 100 years since Alois Alzheimer, M.D., a German psychiatrist and neuropathologist, first reported the presence of senile plaques in an Alzheimer’s patient brain. It led to the discovery of that produces deposits or plaques of fragments in the brain, the suspected culprit of Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, amyloid has been extensively studied because of its association with Alzheimer’s disease. However, amyloid precursor protein distribution within and on neurons and its function in these cells remain unclear.

A team of neuroscientists led by Florida Atlantic University’s Brain Institute sought to answer a fundamental question in their quest to combat Alzheimer’s disease—” Is amyloid precursor protein the mastermind behind Alzheimer’s disease or is it just an accomplice?”

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Sirtuins have long been implicated in playing a role in the longevity of various species, including our own, and researchers at the University of Rochester have now discovered more supporting evidence that they do.

What are sirtuins?

Sirtuins are a family of proteins that facilitate cellular function and have long been known to play a role in aging. In particular, they are responsible for functions such as gene expression and are involved in DNA repair. It has long been understood that sirtuins played a role in aging, but the key factor in how well they function is the presence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), a coenzyme found in all living cells. NAD+ biology is central to deregulated nutrient sensing and a reason why we age, and sirtuins play a key role in this biology.

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