by RIKEN Manhattan plot for the cross-ancestry meta-analysis. The results of the cross-ancestry meta-analysis (77,690 AF cases and 1,167,040 controls) are shown. The log10 BFs on the y axis are shown against the genomic positions (hg19) on the x axis. Association signals that reached a genome-wide significance level (log10 BF > 6) are shown in blue if previously reported...
by City University of Hong Kong M1 treatment restores visual function after optic nerve crush injury. (A) Schematic diagram illustrating the pupillary light reflex (PLR) test. (B) Representative images of the PLR from vehicle-treated control and M1-treated mice. (C) The vehicle-treated pupils of the control mice failed to fully constrict upon light stimulus. Pupil constriction...
Zhen Cheng is a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Stanford University. (Photo courtesy of Xiao lab/Rice University) Han Xiao is an assistant professor of chemistry, biosciences and bioengineering at Rice University. (Photo courtesy of Xiao lab/Rice University) Rice’s Han Xiao, Stanford’s Zhen Cheng and collaborators have developed a new tool for noninvasive brain...
Rachel Brazil Illustration by Kasia Bojanowska During the summer of 2022, with the Omicron coronavirus variant running rampant, friends and relatives of immunologist Bob Seder kept asking him if they should postpone their COVID-19 boosters and wait for the new Omicron-tailored vaccine to become available. He told them not to delay. Seder, acting chief of...
Using an enzyme similar to that found in fireflies, the sensor glows when it detects these otherwise invisible threats. The new technology is described in the journal Advanced Materials. The biopolymer sensor, which is based on computationally designed proteins and silk fibroin extracted from the cocoons of the silk moth Bombyx Mori, can also be embedded in films,...
JANUARY 18TH, 2023 CONN HASTINGS MATERIALS, NEUROLOGY, NEUROSURGERY A team of researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed a soft, hydrogel scaffold that can function as a living electrode for brain-computer interface applications. The researchers used electrically conductive materials and created a porous and flexible scaffold using a freeze-drying process. They then seeded the scaffold with human neural progenitor...
INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN BIOMEDICINE (IRB BARCELONA) IMAGE: MITOCHONDRIA (IN BLUE), ENDOSOMES (IN WHITE) AND MITOCHONDRIAL DNA (IN ORANGE) FROM A HEALTHY MUSCLE CELL CREDIT: IRB BARCELONA Fragmentation and elongation of mitochondria lead to the activation of inflammatory processes in muscle cells, which result in the development of muscle atrophy, and a diminished resistance to...
by Jade Boyd, Rice University An illustration and microscopic images show the relationship between motion-sensing vestibular hair cells (blue) of the innermost ear and the cup-shaped “calyx” (green) structures of adjoining nerves that connect directly to the brain. The rapid flow of information through the synapses helps stabilize balance and vision in humans and many...
by Rimma Gerenstein, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau Orally administered hBD-2 is detectable in organs of hBD-2-treated aGVHD mice. The allo-HCT major mismatch model C57BL/6→BALB/c was used. Mice were treated once daily with hBD-2 (n=5) or PBS (n=3) from day 0 until day 7. hBD-2 concentrations in organs were quantified by LC-MS/MS. Credit: Science Translational Medicine (2022). DOI:...
by NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (yellow) being ingested by neutrophil (purplish blue). Credit: NIAID A promising approach to control Staphylococcus aureus bacterial colonization in people—using a probiotic instead of antibiotics—was safe and highly effective in a Phase 2 clinical trial. The new study, reported in The Lancet Microbe, found...
