Two cases of highly contagious, drug-resistant ringworm infections have been detected in New York City — the first such cases reported in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.
The infection was first identified in a 47-year-old woman who had developed a bad case of ringworm, also known as tinea, while traveling in Bangladesh.
A rash had erupted across most of her body and typical antifungal creams did nothing to alleviate it.
The brain is assumed to be hypoactive during cardiac arrest. However, animal models of cardiac and respiratory arrest demonstrate a surge of gamma oscillations and functional connectivity. To investigate whether these preclinical findings translate to humans, we analyzed electroencephalogram and electrocardiogram signals in four comatose dying patients before and after the withdrawal of ventilatory support. Two of the four patients exhibited a rapid and marked surge of gamma power, surge of cross-frequency coupling of gamma waves with slower oscillations, and increased interhemispheric functional and directed connectivity in gamma bands. High-frequency oscillations paralleled the activation of beta/gamma cross-frequency coupling within the somatosensory cortices. Importantly, both patients displayed surges of functional and directed connectivity at multiple frequency bands within the posterior cortical “hot zone,” a region postulated to be critical for conscious processing. This gamma activity was stimulated by global hypoxia and surged further as cardiac conditions deteriorated in the dying patients. These data demonstrate that the surge of gamma power and connectivity observed in animal models of cardiac arrest can be observed in select patients during the process of dying.
Researchers at Tufts University developed immortalized bovine muscle stem cells for cellular agriculture, potentially overcoming scaling challenges for meat production.
Andrew Stout, Tufts University.
Currently, it is difficult and expensive to produce cell-cultured meat because muscle and fat cells need to be able to grow and divide rapidly. Normal muscle stem cells can only divide about 50 times before they stop dividing and die. However, immortalized cells developed by the TUCCA team can divide indefinitely, which means they can produce much more meat.
Scientists have uncovered the inner workings of one of the most important and intricate “nanobots” operating within our cells by using cutting-edge microscopy for visualizing molecules almost at an atomic level.
Their new study published in Nature has unveiled the critical step that switches on the spliceosome —a piece of cellular machinery that enables cells to build complex proteins.
By uncovering in detail how the spliceosome is activated, scientists believe the discovery could pave the way to more effective designs for cancer drugs that target it.
A study of the mechanical forces in certain immune cells may give new insights into how organisms deal with ever-evolving pathogens.
To fight disease, many organisms have an adaptive immune system, which learns the molecular shapes of foreign elements (antigens) and remembers them to mount a defense against future infections. In vertebrates, the learning stage involves a remarkable cycle of evolution within an individual animal—a cycle called affinity maturation, which involves a type of immune cell called a B cell (Fig. 1). In this process, B cells are selected to have receptors that bind strongly to specific antigens. However, if these cells become too specialized, they risk becoming unresponsive to slightly mutated pathogens. Fortunately, the immune system can limit affinity maturation to retain a range of specificities for target pathogens. Just how the immune system is able to do that is the subject of a fascinating new study by Hongda Jiang and Shenshen Wang from the University of California, Los Angeles [1].
Year 2020 😗😁
Schizophrenia is one of the top 25 causes of global diseases burdens in terms of years lived with the disease and the emotional and economical strains it imposes on the society. Several strategies have been used to treat the patients, specially using typical and atypical psychoactives. However, due to its multifactorial characteristic and patient resistance, schizophrenia is still a difficult disease to diagnose and treat. Thus, new strategies for diagnostics and treatment must be researched to optimize the efficacy and reduce the side effects of the actual therapy. Nanomedicine tries to improve low-weight molecular agents for treatment of diseases through the use of nanoscaled carriers. Among nanomedicine, nanopsychiatry specifically deals with the potential role of nanotechnology in solving psychiatry diseases problems. Therefore, the objective of this work is to provide an overview of the state of the art of nanopsychiatry in the sense of treating schizophrenia.
Yesterday the U.S. Preventative Service Task Force (USPSTF) announced an updated recommendation for breast cancer screening focusing on encouraging more women to begin biennial (every other year) mammograms at age 40. This recommendation, available online now in draft form, is an update to the Task Force’s January 2016 recommendation that women aged 50 – 74 receive mammograms every other year. At the same time, the USPSTF noted that women in their 40s should make an individual choice regarding regular breast cancer screening.
The USPSTF, comprised of experts in disease prevention and evidence-based medicine, serves as an independent team striving to improve the health of people throughout the United States. The Task Force recommends preventative healthcare based on evidence and clinical data. While the recommendations levied by the Task Force pertain to various preventative services, including cancer screening, behavioral counseling, and preventive medicines, the group’s overarching focus remains to help stay healthy.
Importantly, the USPSTF does not conduct its own studies or clinical trials. Instead, this group reviews evidence on preventative approaches to different diseases to conclude the potential pros and cons of such measures.