Death Sentence

Endocytosing the death sentence

A series of recent studies have suggested that endocytosis of the mannose-6-phosphate receptor (MPR)* might play a critical role in delivering the death signal to cells targeted for destruction by the immune system (for review see Barry and Bleackley, 2002). These studies have raised a number of controversial issues regarding the trafficking of proteins from the plasma membrane of the target ce...

Hypotheticals, psychiatric testimony, and the death sentence.

"Doctor ... do you have an opinion within reasonable psychiatric certainty whether or not there is a probability that the defendant. . . will commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society?" "Yes, he most certainly would." "Would you state whether or not that would be true regardless where he is?" "It wouldn't matter whether he was in the penitentiary or w...

Natural killer cells commute death sentence

Sphingolipid imbalance can take out an eye Y onamine et al. report that the relative amounts of two sphingolipids control the breakdown of light-sensing proteins and determine whether eye cells survive. Sphingolipids aren’t just building blocks of membranes. Some of the molecules, such as sphingosine 1 phosphate (S1P) and dihydrosphingosine 1 phosphate (DHS1P), take part in signaling pathways t...

Torture continues for death-sentence medics in Libya.

Acute renal failure: an unacceptable death sentence globally.

A 28-year-old male plantation worker in Bolivia, the father of two young children, was admitted to hospital with a history of vomiting, diarrhoea, and fever, causing severe dehydration. He had a serum creatinine of 396 μmol/L. Despite vigorous intravenous and oral fl uid replacement, his creatinine worsened to 598 μmol/L. Gravity-driven peritoneal dialysis was available at the hospital. The pat...