Month: June 2008

Recent research on Alzheimers: Blocking an immune signaling chemical allows macrophages to clear plaques in mice

Blocking TGF-β-Smad2/3 innate immune signaling mitigates Alzheimer-like pathology.

A new possible treatment target has been demonstrated by a group of researchers working with transgenic mice that are used to model Alzheimer’s in humans. According to New Scientist:
“Richard Flavell at Yale University and colleagues created transgenic mice predisposed to develop brain plaques, and doubly transgenic mice that also had a gene that blocks TGF-beta, a chemical used by the immune system.”

“The researchers expected the second set to fare worse than the first. But to their surprise, the doubly transgenic mice performed better on various mazes”…

Continue reading

Using the JW player to run javascripts at specific time points in the video

Note: this tutorial is still very much in draft form. Additional instructions for those not familiar with javascript and more examples will be added soon.

The Jeroen Wijering Media Player is a widely used free, open-source Flash-based media player, available for download from Jeroenwijering.com.

The JW player has an extensive Javascript API which allows it to communicate with events and elements on the page it is embedded in. Using this feature, the player can execute javascript functions on the page whenever the video reaches a specific time point.

Continue reading