Tag: Physiology
New frontiers in personalised biomonitoring through fingertip sweat analysis
Robust analytical methods are the first fundamental step for the understanding of physiological mechanisms in health and disease. Dr Christopher Gerner and his colleagues from the University of Vienna, Austria, have developed a straightforward assay for finger sweat analysis to assist clinicians in personalised monitoring of metabolic pathways. The team have devised the metabo-tip sampling assay, which promises to be a […]
Read More… from New frontiers in personalised biomonitoring through fingertip sweat analysis
Exploring the Hibernating Behaviour of Smooth Softshell Turtles
In contrast with other species of aquatic turtles, softshell turtles cannot survive long without oxygen and this affects how they hibernate in the winter. Instead of fully burying themselves into the substrate at the bottom of a body of water and staying there, they must periodically raise parts of their body above the sediment to breathe in oxygen that is […]
Read More… from Exploring the Hibernating Behaviour of Smooth Softshell Turtles
Guinea pig as a model to study the carotid body-mediated chronic intermittent hypoxia effects
The ability to sense and respond to changes in oxygen is essential for survival. Dr Ángela Gómez-Niño and Dr Asuncion Rocher along with their research team at Valladolid University aim to better understand the physiology and pathophysiology of oxygen sensitivity. In particular, the team employ the use of the guinea pig as a model to explore the mechanisms that mediate […]
Energising life on earth: the third way
Almost all living organisms on earth get their energy, ultimately, from the sun. Energy is fixed in carbohydrates by plants and cyanobacteria during photosynthesis, then both animals and plants release it by breaking down those carbohydrates. Until now, only two main routes of carbohydrate breakdown were thought to be present in cyanobacteria and plants. However, Dr Kirstin Gutekunst, of Christian-Albrechts-University […]