Post-menopausal women are at an increased risk for osteoporosis due to increased
bone resorption associated with estrogen deficiency. Subcutaneous administration of leptin, a
hormone produced primarily by adipocytes, attenuates bone loss in the ovariectomized (ovx)
rat, an animal model for post-menopausal bone loss. Leptin has both direct peripheral and
indirect...
Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) is an emerging form of liver disease associated with obesity, type II diabetes and dyslipidemia. As the prevalence of these metabolic conditions increases, so too has the occurrence of NASH in all sectors of the population. The pathology of this disease is similar to its alcoholic form,...
David Hume’s resolution of the paradox of taste poses an interesting question for us to ponder. Rather than take a purely subjectivist or objectivist view of the topic, Hume strikes a balance between the two positions by upholding two of three statements regarding taste that are widely held to be...
Pseudomonas syringae is a Gram-negative bacterium that can infect a variety of important crops. Infection by P. syringae is dependent on a type III secretion system (T3SS) that delivers effector proteins to plant cells to suppress host defenses. Previous work has shown that, in the presence of simple sugars, specific...
Insoluble surfactants are unique molecules that have the ability to manipulate interfacial properties, becoming useful in numerous applications such as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, dispersants, and more. Interfacial rheology is a field that attempts to characterize the flow properties of insoluble surfactants by exerting a stress on the...
Severe cases of COVID-19 have been associated with cytokine storms, leading to widespread inflammation, tissue damage, and organ failure. Pro-inflammatory cytokines have also been shown to play a role in liver diseases, including alcoholic liver disease. To investigate alcohol consumption as a risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19 severity,...
Bone loss is common in astronauts during long-duration spaceflight missions with severe bone loss often occurring in the proximal femur, a region not typically investigated in animal models for microgravity. We recently evaluated bone microarchitecture in the femoral head in rapidly growing male Sprague Dawley rats subjected to a 4-day...