|
A.
A Hepatitis C Drug Reveals a New Concept in Anti-viral
Treatment
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Researchers have discovered
that ribavirin - one of the few drugs available
to treat hepatitis C - works by creating a flood
of new mutations that overwhelms the virus. Raul
Andino, a microbiologist at the University of California,
San Francisco, says this mechanism has long been
known as error catastrophe.
Andino:
When microorganisms accumulate too many mutations,
their genetic material start to decline and they
have this error catastrophe or what we call genetic
meltdown because they cannot sustain themselves
anymore.
Narrator:
Andino says their discovery - the result of serendipity
- will help drug companies develop more effective
forms of ribavirin that may help treat a larger
portion of hepatitis C patients.
Andino:
I think the exciting aspect in these findings
is that we have a new concept in terms of how an
antiviral drug can work - a new concept in antiviral
drug. And the question is how can we improve it?
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
Expectant Moms Need to Sleep for Two
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Expectant moms have long been
told to 'eat for two', but Kathryn Lee, a professor
of nursing at the University of California, San Francisco
says a mom-to-be also needs to sleep for two. In fact,
Lee has conducted studies looking into the sleeping
patterns of expectant mothers and concluded that postpartum
depression is really the result of sleep deprivation.
Lee: The symptoms are very similar.
If someone's deprived of sleep on a chronic basis
without a chance to make it up on the weekends or
after a few days, they start to feel irritable, confused,
disoriented. You are not really able to concentrate
or think really clearly and you have cognitive problems
processing information.
Narrator: Lee says probably because
of hormonal changes and stress, expectant mothers
in her study had less of restorative deep sleep.
Lee:
They have to adjust to that and get more sleep at
night - half an hour more sleep, which can make a
big difference.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
A Link Between Antarctic Sea Ice and Climate Change
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Variations in Antarctic sea
ice may have played a vital role in the puzzling low
levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide present during
the last ice age. Ralph Keeling, a researcher at the
University of California, San Diego's Scripps Institution
of Oceanography, used a computer model to gain insight
into past climate changes.
Keeling:
What we worked on was an idea that by covering
the region where the deep waters upwell with sea ice,
which plausibly might have happened in a colder climate
like the ice ages, you could significantly reduce
the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The
gases don't go through a solid very efficiently.
Narrator:
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels depend on how efficiently
carbon dioxide-rich water from the deep ocean returns
to the surface. Recently, it was discovered that these
deep waters primarily return to the surface around
Antarctica.
Keeling:
People of course are well aware that carbon dioxide
has a potential for changing climate, but it's clear
from the Ice Age records that the carbon dioxide concentration
itself was influenced by climate. So, we have potential
for positive feedbacks.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Giving Ergonomics More Time to Heal
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A new study has found ergonomically
correct tools - such as computer keyboards - benefit
workers a little later than previously thought. David
Rempel, the director of the University of California's
Ergonomics Program, says this study, which was done
in connection with researchers at the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory, concluded that people using such
tools shouldn't decide whether they work based on
immediate feedback.
Rempel:
The value of a study like this is, for the first time
it looks like a relatively simple intervention - making
a small change in the keyboard which doesn't significantly
impact the cost of the keyboard - might have some
health value.
Narrator:
While their work did find ergonomically correct keyboards
very beneficial, Rempel recommends other activities
as well.
Rempel:
Limit the number of hours on the computer, make sure
they're adequate work breaks and make sure that the
whole workstation is set up properly for the person's
body size.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
A Sociologist Looks into American Beliefs of Love
& Marriage
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A recent survey of middle-class
cultures on their beliefs of love and marriage uncovered
a general disdain of Hollywood notions of 'one true
love'. Yet, sociologist Ann Swidler of the University
of California, Berkeley, who led the study, says it's
the structure of marriage as an institution that shapes
all romantic relationships in our society.
Swidler:
Even those that are not directly leading to marriage
- and you see it in the way people use the very word
love. They say things like - 'is this right, how did
I know this was it?' And when people are trying to
decide whether to break off a relationship or whether
to divorce, they come exactly to this question. Do
I really love him? Do I really love her?
Narrator:
Swidler says that's because our society legally and
socially defines marriage as an exclusive relationship.
Swidler:
The way you need to think to make the all or nothing
decision that marriage and marriage-like relationships
demand, you need to think about one true love and
an all or nothing feeling.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
|
