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Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,685

Homemade face masks work; effectiveness varies depending on how they are made

Since the spread of virus causing COVID-19 continues, experts recommended wearing homemade facemasks when surgical or N95 masks are not available to prevent the spread of the pandemic. While such makeshift masks are more economical and accessible in low-capita countries, the effectiveness of cloth masks has not been studied in depth.

In Physics of Fluids, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science studied the fate of a large-sized surrogate cough droplets at different velocities, corresponding from mild to severe, while using various locally procured fabrics as masks.

“Our results show cotton, towel-based fabrics were most effective among the considered fabrics and must be stitched together as multiple layers for making homemade facemasks,” said author Saptarshi Basu. “A three or more-layered homemade mask is recommended, since it can suppress aerosolization significantly.”

Identification of resident memory CD8+ T cells with functional specificity for SARS-CoV-2 in unexposed oropharyngeal lymphoid tissue

A Science Immunology analysis of patient samples collected before the #COVID19 pandemic shows that killer #Tcells that can recognize #SARSCoV2, despite never having encountered the virus before, are located in tissues, rather than circulating in blood.

Tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cells in unexposed oropharyngeal lymphoid tissue exhibit specificity for SARS-CoV-2.

The Hunt for Drugs That Promote Ear Hair Cell Regeneration

A research team from Nanjing University has used cochlear organoids to identify drugs that can promote the regeneration of hair cells. The study, published in Stem Cell Reports, also identifies a signaling pathway as a potential target for hearing restoration.

Hearing is a complex multistep process that allows us to detect sound and involves three key parts of the ear – the outer, middle and inner ear. Sound waves are collected by the pinna of the outer ear and are funneled into the ear canal until they meet the ear drum (tympanic membrane), causing it to vibrate.

The resulting vibrations are transmitted to the ossicles – comprising a chain of three small bones called malleus, incus and stape – located within the middle ear. Movement of the bones transmits the sound vibrations to the inner ear, sending a signal to the cochlea (a hollow spiraling structure filled with fluid). Vibrations cause the fluid within the cochlea to ripple, forming waves that stimulate the movement of hair cells positioned on the top of the basilar membrane that separates the two fluid-filled chambers running along the cochlea.

The tangled history of mRNA vaccines

The story illuminates the way that many scientific discoveries become life-changing innovations: with decades of dead ends, rejections and battles over potential profits, but also generosity, curiosity and dogged persistence against scepticism and doubt. “It’s a long series of steps,” says Paul Krieg, a developmental biologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson, who made his own contribution in the mid-1980s, “and you never know what’s going to be useful”.

Hundreds of scientists had worked on mRNA vaccines for decades before the coronavirus pandemic brought a breakthrough.

Futuristic AI-Based Computing Devices: Physicists Simulate Artificial Brain Networks With New Quantum Materials

Pandemic lockdown forces a new perspective on designs for futuristic AI-based computing devices.

Isaac Newton’s groundbreaking scientific productivity while isolated from the spread of bubonic plague is legendary. University of California San Diego physicists can now claim a stake in the annals of pandemic-driven science.

A team of UC San Diego researchers and colleagues at Purdue University have now simulated the foundation of new types of artificial intelligence computing devices that mimic brain functions, an achievement that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. By combining new supercomputing materials with specialized oxides, the researchers successfully demonstrated the backbone of networks of circuits and devices that mirror the connectivity of neurons and synapses in biologically based neural networks.

Mr. Jack Sim — Founder, World Toilet Organization — Ending The Global Sanitation Crisis

Ending the global sanitation crisis — jack sim, founder world toilet organization.

Around 2 billion people worldwide still lack access to the basic tools of improved sanitation (toilets and latrines). One billion people still have to defecate in the open, and at least 10% of the world’s population is thought to consume food irrigated by raw wastewater. An estimated 800,000 children, younger than 5 years of age, perish from diarrhea each year, including conditions related to cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio.

Mr. Jack Sim is the Founder of the World Toilet Organization (https://www.worldtoilet.org/), an organization established with the aim to break the taboo around toilets and this global sanitation crisis.

Mr. Sim is also the founder of the Restroom Association of Singapore, the World Toilet Day initiative, and Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) Hub.

In 2,001 for “creating good will and bringing the subject into the open” and “mobilizing national support in providing on-the-ground expertise”, Mr. Sim received the Schwab Foundation award for Social Entrepreneur of the Year.

Continue reading “Mr. Jack Sim — Founder, World Toilet Organization — Ending The Global Sanitation Crisis” | >

Fixing protein production errors lengthens lifespan

Reducing naturally occurring errors in protein synthesis (production) improves both health and lifespan, finds a new study in simple model organisms led by researchers at UCL and MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences.

The novel findings, published in Cell Metabolism, are the first to demonstrate a direct link between fewer mistakes and longevity.

Explaining the study, lead author Dr. Ivana Bjedov (UCL Cancer Institute), said: We commonly hear about DNA mutations, which can cause cancer, and are considered one of the underlying causes of ageing.

Scientists Claim Overeating Is Not the Primary Cause of Obesity — Point to More Effective Weight Loss Strategies

In contrast to the energy balance model, the carbohydrate-insulin model makes a bold claim: overeating isn’t the main cause of obesity. Instead, the carbohydrate-insulin model lays much of the blame for the current obesity epidemic on modern dietary patterns characterized by excessive consumption of foods with a high glycemic load: in particular, processed, rapidly digestible carbohydrates. These foods cause hormonal responses that fundamentally change our metabolism, driving fat storage, weight gain, and obesity.

Perspective published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition argues the root causes of the obesity epidemic are more related to what we eat rather than how much we eat.

Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that obesity affects more than 40% of American adults, placing them at higher risk for heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. The USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020 – 2025 further tells us that losing weight “requires adults to reduce the number of calories they get from foods and beverages and increase the amount expended through physical activity.”

This approach to weight management is based on the century-old energy balance model which states that weight gain is caused by consuming more energy than we expend. In today’s world, surrounded by highly palatable, heavily marketed, cheap processed foods, it’s easy for people to eat more calories than they need, an imbalance that is further exacerbated by today’s sedentary lifestyles. By this thinking, overeating, coupled with insufficient physical activity, is driving the obesity epidemic. On the other hand, despite decades of public health messaging exhorting people to eat less and exercise more, rates of obesity and obesity-related diseases have steadily risen.

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