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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2,373

Listening to quantum radio

Circa 2019

Researchers at Delft University of Technology have created a quantum circuit to listen to the weakest radio signal allowed by quantum mechanics. This new quantum circuit opens the door to possible future applications in areas such as radio astronomy and medicine (MRI). It also enables experiments to shed light on the interplay between quantum mechanics and gravity. The results have been published in Science.

The usual solution to a weak radio signal is to find a bigger signal, for instance, by picking a different radio station or by moving to the other side of the room. However, m what if we could just listen more carefully?

Weak radio signals are not just a challenge for people trying to find their favourite radio station, but also for imaging (MRI) scanners at hospitals, as well as for the telescopes scientists use to peer into space. In a in radio frequency detection, researchers in the group of Prof. Gary Steele in Delft demonstrated the detection of photons or quanta of energy, the weakest signals allowed by the theory of mechanics.

We’re proud to announce that Dying To Be Frozen will premier at the 2020 Phoenix Film Festival with two theatrical showings this March/April

We’re proud to announce that will premier at the 2020 Phoenix Film Festival with two theatrical showings this March/April. This will be your only chance to view the film in a theatre! Dates and more information on the premiere to follow shortly. Digital release information to follow shortly thereafter. Thank you all for your patients. We’re so glad to finally be able to share the film and hope to see you all at the premiere!

This will be your only chance to view the film in a theatre! Dates and more information on the premiere to follow shortly. Digital release information to follow shortly thereafter. Thank you all for your patients. We’re so glad to finally be able to share the film and hope to see you all at the premiere!

The human brain’s meticulous interface with the bloodstream now on a precision chip

A scrupulous gatekeeper stands between the brain and its circulatory system to let in the good and keep out the bad, but this porter, called the blood-brain barrier, also blocks trial drugs to treat diseases like Alzheimer’s or cancer from getting into the brain.

Now a team led by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology has engineered a way of studying the barrier more closely with the intent of helping drug developers do the same. In a new study, the researchers cultured the human on a , recreating its physiology more realistically than predecessor chips.

The new chip devised a healthy environment for the barrier’s central component, a brain cell called the , which is not a neuron, but which acts as neurons’ intercessors with the circulatory system. Astrocytes interface in with cells in the vasculature called endothelial cells to collaborate with them as the blood-brain barrier.

Neurology-related protein biomarkers are associated with cognitive ability and brain volume in older age

Identifying biological correlates of late life cognitive function is important if we are to ascertain biomarkers for, and develop treatments to help reduce, age-related cognitive decline. Here, we investigated the associations between plasma levels of 90 neurology-related proteins (Olink® Proteomics) and general fluid cognitive ability in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936, N = 798), Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 (LBC1921, N = 165), and the INTERVAL BioResource (N = 4451). In the LBC1936, 22 of the proteins were significantly associated with general fluid cognitive ability (β between −0.11 and −0.17). MRI-assessed total brain volume partially mediated the association between 10 of these proteins and general fluid cognitive ability. In an age-matched subsample of INTERVAL, effect sizes for the 22 proteins, although smaller, were all in the same direction as in LBC1936. Plasma levels of a number of neurology-related proteins are associated with general fluid cognitive ability in later life, mediated by brain volume in some cases.

Osteoarthritis reversed in rats with experimental drug combo

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common ailments of an aging population, but there aren’t many treatment options besides taking pain killers or getting a full joint replacement. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute have found that a combination of two experimental drugs appears to reverse the symptoms of the disorder, with successful tests conducted in rats and in human cells in the lab.

As we age, our bodies gradually lose the ability to repair damage as fast as it needs to. That means that tissues subjected to high-intensity long-term use, such as cartilage in joints, are especially prone to wearing out. That manifests itself in the common condition of osteoarthritis, resulting in pain when that joint moves.

In the past, two molecules have been identified as having decent potential for treating the disease – alpha-KLOTHO (αKLOTHO) and TGF beta receptor 2 (TGFβR2). Previous tests only showed moderate success, so the researchers on the new study decided to see if they fared any better when used together.

Fit to burst: How cancer-exploding viruses are changing the game

Very interesting, researches probably already know.

You awake in the middle of the night from a nightmare.

In the nightmare, you are standing in a room that is completely full, floor to ceiling, of balloons. There are red ones, purple ones, yellow ones and green ones.

You’ve been told to burst only the green and purple balloons. Bursting the red or yellow ones will have disastrous consequences.

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