Current Tactics Employed in Cancer Vaccines and Their Progress

Authors:  Alexander C. Sjuts, Aaron A. Brown

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the US, and the American Cancer Society predicts that there will be approximately 1,660,290 new cancer cases and 580,350 cancer-related deaths in 2013. A wide variety of cancer vaccines including protein and peptide- based, DNA and RNA-based, tumor cell and tumor cell lysate-based, and vector-based vaccines are currently being tested in clinical trials to try and boost the cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response in humans.

The Effect of Food Type on the Development Rate of the Danaid Eggfly

Authors:  Sharmaine L. Miller, Benjamin Mensah, Daniel Wubah

Butterflies are important components of community trophic structure because they serve as food for mammals, lizards, birds, other insects, and spiders (Schreiner, 1997). Furthermore, certain species of butterfly are alsovalued pollinators and herbivores; therefore, butterflies are important in maintaining ecosystem biodiversity (Hammer, 2014). Individual butterflies are vulnerable as larvae because they are small and slow. They are also immobile as pupae or cocoons. A shortened larval and/or pupal period should decrease the chances of being ingested or attacked by predators and increase the probability of surviving to adulthood. Therefore, efforts to identify food types effective at increasing the development rates of threatened butterfly species may be useful. The purpose of this study was to determine whether different food types affect the rate of development of Hypolimnas misippus, also known as the Danaid eggfly.

Dr. Ronnie Guillet on Neonatology

Author:  Maria Zagorulya

Dr. Ronnie Guillet, M.D., Ph.D., is a neonatologist at Strong Memorial Hospital and Highland Hospital. She also teaches and researches neonatal brain development and injury at the University of Rochester Medical Center School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, NY. Dr. Guillet earned her Bachelor’s degree in biology at SUNY at Albany, her Ph.D. in biophysics at University of Rochester and  her M.D. at University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Living to Save Lives: The Career of a Paramedic

Author:  Maria Zagorulya

At the most critical times they come to your rescue. They always know what to do. Never afraid, never hesitant, they quickly size up the scene, assess the situation, make a firm decision and act immediately: the adeptness is astonishing. You trust them with your life. Skillful, confident and always prepared, paramedics are the superheroes of today.

FIFA Brings Physics Financial Boost For Brazil

Author:  Belinda Ongaro

With the FIFA World Cup now in full swing, Brazil’s government has allocated extra funding to scientific studies in physics. Years of preparatory investment stand behind the FIFA World Cup, and Brazil is funneling its ensuing economic boost into bringing the nation’s top game in both the soccer field and scientific fields. Due to a history of limited funding, emphasis was traditionally placed on theoretical studies instead of more costly experimental research. Not until recently did Brazil achieve a near even split between the two domains. In preparation for the World Cup, the government implemented a four-fold increase in science funding through deliberate monetary investment over the last ten years.

Nanoparticles Designed to Target Inflammation

Author:  Maria Zagorulya

Like preschoolers looking for minute differences between two similar pictures on a worksheet, scientists have been working on differentiating between active and inactive neutrophils involved in the immune response. Only recently, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have created anti-inflammatory drugs targeted specifically at active neutrophilic cells that have gone out of control.