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Category: biotech/medical – Page 71

Displays, imaging and sensing: New blue fluorophore breaks efficiency records in both solids and solutions

A new blue fluorescent molecule set new top emission efficiencies in both solid and liquid states, according to a University of Michigan-led study that could pave the way for applications in technology and medicine.

Able to absorb light and emit it at lower energy levels, called fluorophores glow in OLED displays and help doctors and scientists figure out what’s happening in cells and tissues. They need to be solid in displays and many sensing applications, but liquids are typically preferred for biological uses. Most fluorophores don’t work well in both forms, but this one does.

The study, “Elucidating the molecular structural origin of efficient emission across solid and solution phases of single benzene fluorophores,” is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Neuropsychological evidence of a third visual pathway specialized for social perception

Recent evidence suggests the existence of a neural pathway specialized for social perception projecting between the well-established “what” and “where” pathways. A new study of neuropsychological patients demonstrates that this social pathway is causally essential for recognizing dynamic facial expressions.

Researchers find immune pathway in joint tissue involved in early rheumatoid arthritis

A new study by scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus reveals that joint tissue from patients with early-stage rheumatoid arthritis often have high levels of a protein called granzyme used by the immune system to attack pathogens.

The study also detected remnants of a bacteria that causes —gingivitis—in the . While a connection between gingivitis and rheumatoid arthritis has long been suspected, this is the first time physical evidence of the bacteria in the has been detected.

Researchers said the findings strongly support the hypothesis that these bacteria, initially colonizing gum tissue, somehow drive the development of rheumatoid arthritis, at least in some patients. How the bacteria get into the joints remains unknown. These findings, they said, could lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment of this chronic disease.

AI predicts patients likely to die of sudden cardiac arrest

A new AI model is much better than doctors at identifying patients likely to experience cardiac arrest. The linchpin is the system’s ability to analyze long-underused heart imaging, alongside a full spectrum of medical records, to reveal previously hidden information about a patient’s heart health.

The work, led by Johns Hopkins University researchers, could save many lives and also spare many people unnecessary medical interventions, including the implantation of unneeded defibrillators.

“Currently, we have patients dying in the prime of their lives because they aren’t protected and others who are putting up with defibrillators for the rest of their lives with no benefit,” said senior author Natalia Trayanova, a researcher focused on using artificial intelligence in cardiology. “We have the ability to predict with very high accuracy whether a patient is at very high risk for or not.”

People who adopted pets during the pandemic often struggled to access vet care, study finds

During the COVID-19 pandemic when many were stuck at home, people adopted more pets than average, but then struggled to find adequate veterinary care. Kayla Pasteur of Purdue University, U.S., and colleagues reported these findings and other pandemic pet trends, which were published in a study in the open-access journal PLOS One.

In the U.S., about 58 million U.S. households keep one or more dogs and 40 million keep at least one cat. These animals often provide a source of enjoyment, and in the home, so it’s no surprise that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in pet purchases and adoptions.

In the new study, researchers investigated trends in during the pandemic to understand which groups were acquiring pets and how the pandemic impacted their ability to access veterinary care. The team analyzed answers to an of 751 U.S. residents – of which 79% were pet owners – conducted in late 2021.

Unique method enables simulation of error-correctable quantum computers

Quantum computers still face a major hurdle on their pathway to practical use cases: their limited ability to correct the arising computational errors. To develop truly reliable quantum computers, researchers must be able to simulate quantum computations using conventional computers to verify their correctness—a vital yet extraordinarily difficult task.

Now, in a world-first, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, the University of Milan, the University of Granada, and the University of Tokyo have unveiled a method for simulating specific types of error-corrected quantum computations—a significant leap forward in the quest for robust quantum technologies.

Quantum computers have the potential to solve complex problems that no supercomputer today can handle. In the foreseeable future, ’s computing power is expected to revolutionize fundamental ways of solving problems in medicine, energy, encryption, AI, and logistics.

Researchers take major step toward cuff-free blood pressure monitoring

Researchers have shown, for the first time, that speckle contrast optical spectroscopy (SCOS) can be used for cuffless blood pressure monitoring. The new technology could improve early detection and management of hypertension.

“Hypertension affects nearly half of all adults in the US and is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease,” said Ariane Garrett, a doctoral student in Darren Roblyer’s lab at Boston University. “This research is a step toward a that would let people monitor their any time, without a cuff.”

SCOS is a noninvasive imaging technique that measures by analyzing speckle patterns formed by coherent light scattering from cells and tissue. While it has been used for other applications such as brain and tissue monitoring, this is one of the first studies to explore how SCOS signals relate to blood pressure.

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