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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2,571

Driving immunometabolism to control lung infection

When drugs to kill microbes are ineffective, host-directed therapy uses the body’s own immune system to deal with the infection. This approach is being tested in patients with COVID-19, and now a team of researchers at Trinity College Dublin has published a study showing how it might also work in the fight against tuberculosis (TB). The findings are published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology.

Although the bacteria that causes TB (called Mtb) has scourged humankind for millennia, we do not fully understand the complexities and interplay of the human to this ancient bug. Worryingly, there are increasing numbers of people with antibiotic resistant TB, which is hard to treat and is becoming a global threat to .

Scientists at the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI) at St. James’s Hospital are dedicated to understanding the intricacies of the human immune response to Mtb with the aim of finding ways to target and promote the immune response to overcome the infection. Scientists already know that the human immune response can both under or over respond to the bacteria resulting in a difficulty to treat the disease. This complex immune response is analogous to driving with both the accelerator and the brakes fully engaged at the same time.

Black silicon UV responses exceed 130% efficiency

“For the first time ever, we have direct experimental evidence that an external quantum efficiency above 100% is possible in a single photodiode without any external antireflection,” says Hele Savin, associate professor of Micro and Nanoelectonics at Aalto University in Finland. The results come just a few years after Savin and colleagues at Aalto University demonstrated almost unity efficiency over the wavelength range 250–950 nm in photodiodes made with black silicon, where the silicon surface is nanostructured and coated to suppress losses.

Noticing some curious effects in the UV region, Savin’s group extended their study of the devices to focus on this region of the electromagnetic spectrum. UV sensing has multiple applications, including spectroscopy and imaging, flame detection, water purification and biotechnology. While annual market demand for UV photodiodes is expected to increase to 30%, the efficiency of these devices has been limited to 80% at best. To Savin’s surprise, closer analysis of their device’s response to UV light revealed that the external quantum efficiency could exceed 130%. Independent measurements at Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) verified the results.

Using personal frequency to control brain activity

Individual frequency can be used to specifically influence certain areas of the brain and thus the abilities processed in them — solely by electrical stimulation on the scalp, without any surgical intervention. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences have now demonstrated this for the first time.

Stroke, Parkinson’s disease and depression — these medical illnesses have one thing in common: they are caused by changes in brain functions. For a long time, research has therefore been conducted into ways of influencing individual brain functions without surgery in order to compensate for these conditions.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig have taken a decisive step. They have succeeded in precisely influencing the functioning of a single area of the brain. For a few minutes, they inhibited exactly the area that processes the sense of touch by specifically intervening in its rhythm. As a result, the area that was less networked with other brain regions, its so-called functional connectivity, decreased, and thus also the exchange of information with other brain networks.

New ‘PEDOT’ Polymer May Allow Human Brain to Merge With AI, Cure and Detect Diseases, Scientists Say

The discovery has led to a new polymer that allows humans to integrate electronics into the brain after challenges with substances such as gold, steel and silicon resulted in scarring of organic tissue.

A major breakthrough in materials research may allow the human brain to link with artificial intelligence, it was announced at an American Chemical Society Fall 2020 event on Monday.

Scarring due to previously used materials can block electrical signals transmitted from computers to the brain, but University of Delaware researchers developed new types of polymers aimed at overcoming the risks.

How Scientists Influenced Monkeys’ Decisions Using Ultrasound in Their Brains

A Sound Treatment

Ultrasound is an oddball in the neuromodulation world. Similar to its better-known siblings, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDSC) or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), ultrasound changes how neurons fire, which in turn changes their computational output—what we observe as learning, memory, and other behaviors. This idea, dubbed neuromodulation, has taken the neurological world by storm for its near “magical” efficacy for treating people with depression who don’t respond to antidepressants, or people with Parkinson’s disease whose movement patterns are severely disrupted.

Compared to first-generation neuromodulation, where the brain-tweaking gadget is surgically implanted into the brain, ultrasound offers a way to “hack” neural firings from the outside. In a way, the technology uses sound waves to mechanically “shake” the neurons in a circuit back into sequence, so they function in sync as needed and control subsequent outputs like learning, thinking, memory, and decision-making.

Integrating genetic and non-genetic determinants of cancer evolution by single-cell multi-omics

Both genetic and non-genetic factors underlie the intratumoural heterogeneity that fuels cancer evolution. This Review discusses the application of single-cell multi-omics technologies to the study of cancer evolution, which capture and integrate the different layers of heritable information and reveal their complex interplay.

The Shortest and Longest Living Dog Breeds in the World

Every dog owner has their own reasons for getting a pet, whether it is companionship, protection, or simply to have a furry friend to walk with. Each different breed comes with perks and challenges, and owners must be prepared to accommodate each type of dog’s unique health requirements to maximize their lifespan, because the reality is that some dogs are genetically predisposed to live much longer than others.

In order to determine the shortest and longest living dog breeds in the world, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the study, “Methods and mortality results of a health survey of purebred dogs in the UK,” published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice. Breeds for which there was little data or low response rates on surveys sent to owners were not considered. Breeds that are not officially recognized by the American Kennel Club were also not considered. Breed popularity data, as well as height and weight data, comes from the AKC. The height refers to the height of the dog’s shoulder.

Numerous studies have determined that there is a significant link between the size of a dog and the length of its lifespan — larger dogs have noticeably shorter lifespans than smaller dogs, as they age at a faster rate. Yet size and lifespan do not correlate exactly, as certain types of dogs are especially prone to maladies like cancer or heart problems.

New Research Suggests Terpenes And CBD Work 2X’s Better For Covid-19 Inflammation Than Corticosteroid

In the fight against Covid-19, cytokine storms are one of the most deadly factors that doctors are battling. This symptom in severe cases of the novel coronavirus can lead to excessive inflammation, swelling, pain, and loss of organ function. It can even cause the immune system to ramp up so much that it starts killing the body’s own cells — instead of just fighting the infection. In serious cases, this can lead to death, as we’ve seen in many cases of severe Covid-19.

In the last few months, researchers have been looking at whether cannabis, or it’s many chemical compounds, might help to fight this deadly effect by bringing down inflammation. Recently, we’ve seen positive results from studies suggesting that CBD, a compound in cannabis, may help fight these cytokine storms.

Now early results from an ongoing Israeli study are adding to the chorus of researchers suggesting that cannabis’ ingredients could be a game changing treatment in the fight against Covid-19. But this study says that terpenes, compounds that provide the aroma and flavor in cannabis and many other plants, may lead to even better results than CBD alone, and might outperform conventional treatments like corticosteroids. Reports from the study show that a combination of CBD with terpenes was 2 times more effective at inhibiting cytokine activity than dexamethasone, a corticosteroid which a recent study found to be an effective treatment for Covid-19 cytokine storms.

Scorching temperature in US’s Death Valley could be global high

A temperature of 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius) recorded in California’s Death Valley on Sunday by the US National Weather Service could be the hottest ever measured with modern instruments, officials say.

The reading was registered at 3:41 pm at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center in the Death Valley national park by an automated observation system—an electronic thermometer encased inside a box in the shade.

In 1913, a weather station half an hour’s walk away recorded what officially remains the world record of 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.7 degrees Celsius). But its validity has been disputed because a superheated sandstorm at the time may have skewed the reading.

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