by Julie Cunningham, Massachusetts General Hospital Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Macrophages are key cells of the immune system with many important beneficial functions, but they can also exacerbate many common diseases. Macrophages that are polarized—or activated—into a type called M1 can suppress the growth of blood vessels and tumors. In contrast, M2-type polarized macrophages can exacerbate tumor...
Medicinal prescription by professionals depends on not just the lab reports of the patient but also on the physical examination of the patient. The inability of AI to recognize pain and express empathy has been a significant factor of its limited use in actual real-life diagnosis. Doctor examines a patient. Image credit: Pixabay, CC0 Public...
Cambridge researchers have discovered how T cells – an important component of our immune system – are able to keep on killing as they hunt down and kill cancer cells, repeatedly reloading their toxic weapons. Cytotoxic T cells are specialist white blood cells that are trained by our immune system to recognise and eliminate threats...
NOVEMBER 1ST, 2021, CONN HASTINGS ENT, MATERIALS Researchers at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China created a battery-free device that could pave the way for an artificial cochlea to aid with hearing loss. The cochlea, a component of the inner ear, converts sound waves into electrical impulses, and the new device performs a...
NOVEMBER 2ND, 2021, CONN HASTINGS Researchers at Ohio State University managed to develop a breath test for COVID-19 that can spot the infection within seconds. The basis for the test is a unique ‘breath print’ of COVID-19 that the researchers have identified, and this includes a specific combination of oxygen, nitric oxide, and ammonia in...
UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA Tsukuba, Japan – Keeping everything running smoothly inside the human body is a tricky business that involves a multitude of checks and balances to make sure that an exquisite equilibrium is maintained. Now, researchers from Japan have identified a single protein that helps balance both sugar and fat levels in the liver...
Diana Kwon Cryo-electron tomography and related techniques can showcase the insides of cells in striking detail. Credit: S. Albert et al./PNAS (CC BY 4.0) For a few weeks in 2017, Wanda Kukulski found herself binge-watching an unusual kind of film: videos of the insides of cells. They were made using a technique called cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) that...
By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira Oct 31 2021 Research published in the journal Nature Medicine suggests a risk for neurological complications after the first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. However, the likelihood of developing neurological complications remains far greater among people infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Study: Neurological complications after first dose of COVID-19 vaccines...
KAZAN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY IMAGE: (A) DYNAMIC CHANGES IN THE HEXA ACTIVITY IN THE TSD PATIENT’S PLASMA AFTER UCBCT AND CURCUMIN ADMINISTRATION; NORMAL LEVEL OF HEXA ACTIVITY OBSERVED IN HEALTHY DONORS IS 24–148 NMOL/ML/H; (B) DYNAMIC CHANGES IN THE HEXA CONCENTRATION IN THE TSD PATIENT’S SERUM AFTER UCBCT AND CURCUMIN ADMINISTRATION. THE HEXA CONCENTRATION RANGE MEASURED...
MONASH UNIVERSITY IMAGE: PROFESSOR YUMING GUO CREDIT: MONASH UNIVERSITY Today the world’s largest study of the impact of temperature changes and kidney disease reveals that 7.4 percent of all hospitalizations for renal disease can be attributed to an increase in temperature. In Brazil – where the study was focused – this equated to more than...
