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Category: health – Page 245

Researchers testing light technology that could protect against the next pandemic

New technology could add another layer of protection against the next pandemic by simply turning on a light. Researchers are exploring a new way of using ultraviolet light to make indoor air safer.

“It’s been known for 80 years or so that ultraviolet light can kill bacteria and inactivate viruses in the air so that they’re no longer infectious,” Don K. Milton, professor of occupational and environmental health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, told CBS News.

Conventional UV-C light has been used extensively in places like hospitals, homeless shelters and prisons. But that conventional UV light can damage the skin and eye, so should not be shined directly at people.

Researchers find new function performed by almost half of brain cells

* Astrocytes play a variety of roles with neurons, but until now, scientists did not know that these cells carry electrical impulses.

* Applying new technology, Tufts University scientists recently discovered in mice that astrocytes are electrically active like neurons. Astrocytes play a variety of roles with neurons, but until now, scientists did not know that these cells carry electrical impulses.

Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that facilitate the transfer of electrical signals between neurons and support the blood-brain barrier. Scientists have long understood that astrocytes control these substances to support neuronal health.

This study breaks ground in showing that neurons release potassium ions, which change the astrocytes’ electrical activity. This modulation affects how the astrocytes control neurotransmitters.

Until now, scientists could not image potassium activity in the brain.

Retinal Cell Map Could Advance Precise Therapies for Blinding Diseases

Researchers have identified distinct differences among the cells comprising a tissue in the retina that is vital to human visual perception. The scientists from the National Eye Institute (NEI) discovered five subpopulations of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)—a layer of tissue that nourishes and supports the retina’s light-sensing photoreceptors. Using artificial intelligence, the researchers analyzed images of RPE at single-cell resolution to create a reference map that locates each subpopulation within the eye. A report on the research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“These results provide a first-of-its-kind framework for understanding different RPE cell subpopulations and their vulnerability to retinal diseases, and for developing targeted therapies to treat them,” said Michael F. Chiang, M.D., director of the NEI, part of the National Institutes of Health.

“The findings will help us develop more precise cell and gene therapies for specific degenerative eye diseases,” said the study’s lead investigator, Kapil Bharti, Ph.D., who directs the NEI Ocular and Stem Cell Translational Research Section.

As New Omicron Subvariant Spreads, Here Are the Symptoms to Watch For

The BA.2 omicron subvariant still remains the dominant COVID strain across the U.S., but another subvariant has gained momentum in recent days.

BA.2.12.1, which health officials say appears to be up to 27% more contagious than BA.2, accounts for approximately 36.5% of cases nationwide, according to the most recent CDC weekly numbers.

While BA.2 accounts for approximately 75% of all cases in the country, it is said to make up at least 70% of the cases in the healthcare region encompassing New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The Surprisingly Sophisticated Mind Of An Insect

Quinn SenaAuthor.

Tenor.

Jose Ruben Rodriguez Fuentes shared a link.

Carrie Arnold is a freelance health and science writer living in Virginia.

At the age of 20, I committed my first mass murder. I didn’t, of course, mean to kill anyone. But my good intentions meant nothing to the small mound of deceased fruit flies in the bottom of the vial.

My goal was simply to anesthetize them and then search their wrinkled, vellum wings and bulging eyes for mutations. It was a classic introductory genetics experiment, one taught to countless aspiring biologists for a century. I doused a cotton ball with ether, the fruity-smelling liquid that would render the flies temporarily unconscious (and easier to count). The instructor warned us to make sure the flies were completely knocked out, so that they didn’t wake up mid-experiment. So I left the ether-soaked cotton on the vial an extra minute or two. Just to be safe.

Continue reading “The Surprisingly Sophisticated Mind Of An Insect” | >

World Health Organization Acknowledges Undercounting of COVID-19 Deaths

Not 6 million but 21 million.

And it has all happened because of a virus that caught the world unprepared.

The WHO report released today states that total deaths as reported by national health authorities attributable to COVID-19 don’t take into account excess mortality, or as it describes, “the mortality above what would be expected based on the non-crisis mortality rate.”

Excess mortality is not a measure that can easily be gleaned from across the planet. Why not? Because not all countries measure mortality at the same pace and in the same way. Data reporting techniques differ. Some countries don’t even measure at all. This makes calculating excess mortality problematic.

Cybersecurity Incident Disrupts Tenet’s Acute Hospital Operations

Tenet Healthcare Corporation recently experienced a cybersecurity incident in April 2022, which resulted in a temporary disruption to a subset of acute care operations.

The report from Tenet comes on the heels of telephone and computer problems occurring at St. Mary’s Medical Center and Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach Florida, that were reported by WPTV NewsChannel 5. Tenet health is the parent company for both of the medical centers.

Patients and staff have contacted WPTV NewsChannel 5 expressing concerns about patient care tied to limits of electronic charting and their inability to communicate by telephone.

Dr. Stephen Johnston, PhD — Calviri — Cancer Eradication Via A Universal Preventative Cancer Vaccine

Eradicating Cancer With A Universal Preventative Cancer Vaccine — Dr. Stephen Johnston, Ph.D., ASU Biodesign Institute / Calviri

Dr. Stephen Johnston, Ph.D. (https://biodesign.asu.edu/stephen-johnston) is the Director for the Center for Innovations in Medicine (https://biodesign.asu.edu/Research/Centers/innovations-medicine), a Professor in the School of Life Sciences, and Director of the Biological Design Graduate Program at The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University.

Dr Johnston is also Founding CEO and Chairman of the Board Of Directors of Calviri (https://calviri.com/).

The Center for Innovations in Medicine and Dr. Johnston’s current work focuses on innovative solutions to fundamental problems in bio-medicine, and their organization brings together a unique group of interdisciplinary scientists to identify, analyze, and come up with inventive solutions for significant un-met medical needs.

Current major translational sciences and technology development projects of Dr. Johnston include 1) Cancer Eradication: with a focus on developing a universal, preventative cancer vaccine, and 2) Health Futures: with an aim of producing a diagnostic system that allows continuous monitoring of the health status of healthy people — helping in the revolution to pre-symptomatic medicine.

Continue reading “Dr. Stephen Johnston, PhD — Calviri — Cancer Eradication Via A Universal Preventative Cancer Vaccine” | >

Survey: Trust in science is high, but misinformation is a threat

Trust in science is rising worldwide, according to a 3M-backed survey released Tuesday, and more people expect it to solve the world’s problems.

But the fifth annual 3M State of Science Index also showed many are worried that misinformation could lead to more , greater societal divisions and lack of action on climate change.

“It’s really good to see that trust in is high, and that’s true in America and around the world, but misinformation threatens scientific credibility,” Jayshree Seth, 3M’s corporate scientist and chief science advocate, said in an interview. “It’s not simply a matter of communicating facts, data and evidence. We need to build that relationship with the public.”

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