Lifeboat Foundation

Is it all down to a cup of joe then?

People who drink coffee regularly, with or without sugar, both seem to benefit from the beverage as it cuts down on the risk of early death, * The Guardian* reported.

Grabbing a cup of coffee may just be something you do almost unconsciously as you sit down with your morning newspaper or before you start your workday. As the day wears on, you might be down three cups or maybe even five without giving it a second thought. However, scientists have been very conscious of the world’s coffee consumption.

Continue reading “Coffee drinkers have a 29 percent lower risk of death than non-coffee drinkers” »

Remote inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis spreads by neuron crosstalk, and the molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) plays a key role in this.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorder that mainly causes painful joints. It’s estimated to affect over 450,000 Australians.

Continue reading “Key to spreading inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis found” »

Using a new gene therapy technique, researchers at the University of California San Diego reduced neuropathic pain resulting from spinal cord or other nerve injuries in mice — and with no detectable side effects.

The research is highly intriguing because it could lead to new treatment options for the untold numbers of patients who experience chronic pain, numbness or weak muscles as a result of spinal cord injuries.

Treating nerve damage or dysfunction, otherwise known as neuropathy, with drugs can often lead to side effects. These drugs also have to be administered continuously, and opioids — which are particularly effective painkillers — can often lead to addiction issues.

Background An attempt was made to reprogram peripheral blood cells into human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSCs) as a new cell source for cartilage repair. Methods We generated chondrogenic lineage from human peripheral blood via hiPSCs using an integration-free method. Peripheral blood cells were either obtained from a human blood bank or freshly collected from volunteers. After transforming peripheral blood cells into iPSCs, the newly derived iPSCs were further characterized through karyotype analysis, pluripotency gene expression and cell differentiation ability. iPSCs were differentiated through multiple steps, including embryoid body formation, hiPSC-mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-like cell expansion, and chondrogenic induction for 21 days. Chondrocyte phenotype was then assessed by morphological, histological and biochemical analysis, as well as the chondrogenic expression.

An attempt was made to reprogram peripheral blood cells into human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSCs) as a new cell source for cartilage repair.

We generated chondrogenic lineage from human peripheral blood via hiPSCs using an integration-free method. Peripheral blood cells were either obtained from a human blood bank or freshly collected from volunteers. After transforming peripheral blood cells into iPSCs, the newly derived iPSCs were further characterized through karyotype analysis, pluripotency gene expression and cell differentiation ability. iPSCs were differentiated through multiple steps, including embryoid body formation, hiPSC-mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-like cell expansion, and chondrogenic induction for 21 days. Chondrocyte phenotype was then assessed by morphological, histological and biochemical analysis, as well as the chondrogenic expression.

HiPSCs derived from peripheral blood cells were successfully generated, and were characterized by fluorescent immunostaining of pluripotent markers and teratoma formation in vivo. Flow cytometric analysis showed that MSC markers CD73 and CD105 were present in monolayer cultured hiPSC–MSC-like cells. Both alcian blue and toluidine blue staining of hiPSC–MSC-chondrogenic pellets showed as positive. Immunohistochemistry of collagen II and X staining of the pellets were also positive. The sulfated glycosaminoglycan content was significantly increased, and the expression levels of the chondrogenic markers COL2, COL10, COL9 and AGGRECAN were significantly higher in chondrogenic pellets than in undifferentiated cells. These results indicated that peripheral blood cells could be a potential source for differentiation into chondrogenic lineage in vitro via generation of mesenchymal progenitor cells.

Over 3.6 million MySQL servers are publicly exposed on the Internet and responding to queries, making them an attractive target to hackers and extortionists.

Of these accessible MySQL servers, 2.3 million are connected over IPv4, with 1.3 million devices over IPv6.

While it is common for web services and applications to connect to remote databases, these instances should be locked down so only authorized devices can connect to them.