Science Snippet: The Marvels of Membranes
Like skin that covers and protects our bodies, membranes surround and protect cells and organelles. Membranes are semi-fluid barriers composed mainly of lipids and proteins. They provide structure; control the import and export of molecules such as ions, nutrients, and toxins; and support cellular communication.
A cross section of a cell with its membrane and adjacent cell membranes outlined in gray. The colorful structures are organelles with membranes. Credit: Judith Stoffer.
The lipids that compose membranes are primarily phospholipids. (Cholesterol is another lipid often present in membranes that helps regulate t...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - December 15, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Cells Cellular Processes Science Snippet Source Type: blogs
Cataract Surgery Correlates with Reduced Risk of Dementia
Today's research materials report on a solid correlation between cataract surgery to restore vision and lower risk of later dementia. This provides support for the view that a reduced flow of sensory information to the brain accelerates the onset of neurodegeneration and loss of function with age. This is quite distinct from the usual set of underlying biochemical processes that are investigation in connection with cognitive decline and dementia: the accumulation of molecular waste in the brain; the chronic inflammation of brain tissue; the loss of mitochondrial function; the dysfunction of the vascular system leading to l...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 13, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Black, But Not White, Families Talked More About Race After The Murder of George Floyd
By Emily Reynolds
Conversations about race can be seriously beneficial to children. Research has highlighted multiple positive outcomes for young people of all backgrounds — enhanced ability to accept different viewpoints and perspectives, increased levels of empathy, a better understanding of their own identity, and less racial bias to name but a few. Yet some parents are still unwilling to take the time to have such conversations.
A new study, published in PNAS, finds that readiness to have such conversations has a lot to do with the racial identity of parents themselves. Looking at family conversations in the w...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - November 1, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Social Source Type: blogs
Black, But Not White, Families Talked More About Race After The Murder of George Floyd
By Emily Reynolds
Conversations about race can be seriously beneficial to children. Research has highlighted multiple positive outcomes for young people of all backgrounds — enhanced ability to accept different viewpoints and perspectives, increased levels of empathy, a better understanding of their own identity, and less racial bias to name but a few. Yet some parents are still unwilling to take the time to have such conversations.
A new study, published in PNAS, finds that readiness to have such conversations has a lot to do with the racial identity of parents themselves. Looking at family conversations in t...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - November 1, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Social Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 659
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 659:Onchocerca volvulusadult worms and microfilarie. If you didn ' t already see it, check out the whole slide scanned image HERE.In this case, you can see a large subcutaneous nodule containing the adult worms (each female with a characteristic " double barrel " uterus) and microfilariae being released into the surrounding skin. The microfilariae are the primary source of disease, as they crawl through the skin causing intense itching and inflammatory changes. They also go to the eye and cause irreversible blindness. The latter is the reason that infection is cal...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - October 31, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Visual Content to Treat Amblyopia: Interview with Scott Xiao, CEO at Luminopia
Luminopia, a company based in Cambridge, MA, has developed Luminopia One, a visual content system that aims to treat amblyopia, also known as ‘lazy eye,’ in young children. The condition is caused by neurological deficits that typically affect vision in one eye.
At present, the condition is treated using corrective glasses, eye patches, or eye drops, none of which young children are big fans of. The Luminopia One system is different, and involves kids wearing a standard virtual reality (VR) headset, through which they watch TV shows or movies for one hour per day. These include well-known shows, such as those from S...
Source: Medgadget - October 12, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Neurology Ophthalmology amblyopia luminopia Source Type: blogs
Neurotech start-up Paradromics raises $20M to address brain-related disorders via next-gen brain-computer interfaces
Neuralink Competitor Raises $20 Million for Brain Implants (Bloomberg):
A competitor to Elon Musk’s Neuralink said it raised $20 million, enough to get it on track to introduce a new generation of powerful and tiny electrodes to the human brain.
Paradromics Inc., founded in 2015 about a year ahead of Neuralink, is building brain-computer interfaces that could help people with disorders ranging from paralysis to speech impediments.
“Once you start to realize that the best way to describe the brain is through data, you start to reframe a lot of classically hard-to-treat conditions,” said Matt Angle, chief executive off...
Source: SharpBrains - August 11, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Technology & Innovation brain implants brain-machine interface brain-related disorders BrainGate DARPA electrodes healthcare microelectronics Neuralink neuroscience Paradromics Prime Movers Lab Source Type: blogs
AI-Powered App Interprets HIV Test Results
This study is a really strong partnership with AHRI that demonstrates the power of using deep learning to successfully classify ‘real-world’ field-acquired rapid test images, and reduce the number of errors that may happen when reading test results by eye,” said Rachel McKendry, a researcher involved in the study, in a UCL announcement. “This research shows the positive impact the mobile health tools can have in low- and middle-income countries, and paves the way for a larger study in the future.”
Study in Nature Medicine: Deep learning of HIV field-based rapid tests
Via: UCL (Source: Medgadget)
Source: Medgadget - June 22, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Informatics Medicine Public Health Source Type: blogs
How Big Pharma Bought Big Media for $6 Billion: The Unintended Consequences of Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertising
Media, whether broadcast, streamed, or print, is a lifeline of information for most Americans. Updates on the pandemic, results of an election, knowing whether you are in the path of an oncoming hurricane or snowstorm—we are alerted by news reports and thereby dependent on the factual information they provide. Media informs, shapes opinions, keeps us out of harm’s way. Despite the public pummeling media has received over the past few years, media remains the means through which Americans view much of their world. What the media reports—or does not report—is therefore crucial to shaping opinion and behavior.
There...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - June 18, 2021 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Open undoctored wheat belly Source Type: blogs
Do A & P Textbooks Have Too Much Content? | TAPP 94
Oh, thathuge A&P textbook I teach from! Do I really need tocover all of it? Host Kevin Patton discusses his take on this age-old problem. Does thecolor of my marking pen send a signal that I don't want to send to my students? A breakthrough in understandinghow teeth sense cold. And what in the world is atunneling nanotube—and can I get one at my local hardware store?Greek names for SARS-CoV-2 variants simplifies conversation and avoids stigma.00:00 | Introduction00:43 | How Do Teeth Sense Cold?07:04 | Sponsored by AAA08:32 | Red& Green for Student Feedback18:03 | What's a TNT?23:52 | Sponsored by HAPI25...
Source: The A and P Professor - June 7, 2021 Category: Physiology Authors: Kevin Patton Source Type: blogs
Do A & P Textbooks Have Too Much Content? | TAPP 94
Oh, thathuge A&P textbook I teach from! Do I really need tocover all of it? Host Kevin Patton discusses his take on this age-old problem. Does thecolor of my marking pen send a signal that I don't want to send to my students? A breakthrough in understandinghow teeth sense cold. And what in the world is atunneling nanotube—and can I get one at my local hardware store?Greek names for SARS-CoV-2 variants simplifies conversation and avoids stigma.00:00 | Introduction00:43 | How Do Teeth Sense Cold?07:04 | Sponsored by AAA08:32 | Red& Green for Student Feedback18:03 | What's a TNT?23:52 | Sponsored by HAPI25...
Source: The A and P Professor - June 7, 2021 Category: Physiology Authors: Kevin Patton Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, June 7th 2021
Fight Aging! publishes news and commentary relevant to the goal of ending all age-related disease, to be achieved by bringing the mechanisms of aging under the control of modern medicine. This weekly newsletter is sent to thousands of interested subscribers. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter,
please visit:
https://www.fightaging.org/newsletter/
Longevity Industry Consulting Services
Reason, the founder of Fight Aging! and Repair Biotechnologies, offers strategic consulting services to investors, entrepreneurs, and others interested in the longevity industry and its complexities. To find out m...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 6, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Gene Therapy to Add a New Photosensitive Protein to the Retina
Researchers have delivered a non-human photosensitive protein to the retina of a patient long blind from the loss of photoreceptor cells caused by retinitis pigmentosa. The outcome as described is not as good as the results produced by implantation of grids of electrodes into the retina, but that strategy has been under development for a somewhat longer number of years. This approach is in the very early stages: it is unclear as to how well one can engineer the retina to use alternative means of translating light into signals to the optic nerve, and how well the brain will adapt to such new sources of information over time...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 1, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, May 3rd 2021
Fight Aging! publishes news and commentary relevant to the goal of ending all age-related disease, to be achieved by bringing the mechanisms of aging under the control of modern medicine. This weekly newsletter is sent to thousands of interested subscribers. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter,
please visit:
https://www.fightaging.org/newsletter/
Longevity Industry Consulting Services
Reason, the founder of Fight Aging! and Repair Biotechnologies, offers strategic consulting services to investors, entrepreneurs, and others interested in the longevity industry and its complexities. To find out m...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 2, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Retinal Cells that Can Integrate into Tissue and Survive Following Transplantation
One of the biggest challenges in regenerative medicine is ensuring the long-term survival and integration into tissue of any meaningful fraction of transplanted cells. Most transplanted cells simply die. Most early cell therapies achieve benefits via the signaling generated by transplanted cells, in the short period of time before they die. Numerous approaches are under development to try to ensure long-term survival of transplanted cells, but successes have so far been few and far between. Here, researchers report on one of these successes, generating retinal cells that integrate into the retina to produce tissue regenera...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 26, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
