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New study shows how immune cells process and use energy

For years, scientists have used cells grown in petri dishes to study the metabolic processes that fuel the immune system. But a new report in Immunity suggests looking outside the dish and into living organisms gives a drastically different view of the way immune cells process and use energy.

11 Oct 2019

First autonomous humanoid robots with sensitive synthetic skin are safer

Sensitive synthetic skin enables robots to sense their own bodies and surroundings - a crucial capability if they are to be in close contact with people.

10 Oct 2019

Human regenerative capacity discovered

Move over, salamanders, we humans can also regrow some of our body tissues. At least, this is what a new study published on October 9, 2019, in the journal Science Advances, reports. Using a mechanism quite similar to that by which amphibians like salamanders, and some zebrafish, grow back lost body parts, human joint cartilage can also regenerate itself.

10 Oct 2019

Vaccine against gastrin may slow spread of pancreatic cancer

New research suggests a vaccine that blocks a digestive hormone may slow the spread of pancreatic cancer, potentially increasing survival rates. The study, published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, was chosen as an APSselect article for October.

10 Oct 2019

‘Sticky’ gene may boost the nerve calming effects of Valium

Between 1999 and 2017, the United States experienced a 10-fold increase in the number of people who died from overdoses of Valium and other benzodiazepines.

10 Oct 2019

New coating to improve performance of neural recording technology

A microelectrode array is an implantable device through which neural signals can be obtained or delivered.

10 Oct 2019

New liquid-cell technology provides first 3D view of life’s processes

A new liquid-cell technology allows scientists to see biological materials and systems in three dimensions under an electron microscope (EM), according to researchers at Penn State, Virginia Tech and Protochips Inc.

10 Oct 2019

Environmental estrogen burdens babies in mothers' wombs

Xenoestrogens are absorbed through the environment, especially through food. As oestrogen-like substances, they can have a profound effect on the body's hormonal balance.

10 Oct 2019

Fetal gut has more well-developed immune capabilities than previously thought

Most biology textbooks explain that the fetal immune system is largely undeveloped and that it learns after being exposed to the world at birth. New research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh challenges that paradigm, and provides the first comprehensive look at the immune system of the developing gut.

10 Oct 2019

Study pinpoints a gene that allows chlamydia to pick up DNA from host environment

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chlamydia trachomatis is the most commonly reported sexually transmitted bacterial disease in the U.S., totaling 1.7 million cases in 2017. Rates are highest among teenagers and young adults. Left untreated, chlamydia can cause blindness and sterility.

10 Oct 2019

TSC1 status may predict response to Hsp90 inhibitors in bladder cancer patients

The researchers have recently identified the tumor suppressor tuberous sclerosis complex 1 as a new co-chaperone of Hsp90 that affects Hsp90 binding to its inhibitors.

10 Oct 2019

Penn researchers to develop critical tool for imaging the brains of patients with Parkinson's

Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will lead a multi-institutional effort in pursuit of developing a critical tool for imaging the brains of patients with Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

10 Oct 2019

Scientists show how the immune system reacts to Ebola vaccine

Following the dramatic Ebola epidemic in West Africa from 2013 to 2016, viral infections have spread in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2018. Since then, more than 2,100 deaths have been reported and the number of victims and new infections increases daily.

10 Oct 2019

Serum neurofilament levels can be used to differentiate between frontotemporal dementia and psychiatric disorders

Early symptoms of frontotemporal dementia are often confused with symptoms occurring in psychiatric disorders.

10 Oct 2019

Phototherapy strategy highly effective for treating carbon monoxide poisoning in rats

Carbon monoxide (CO)--which is produced by cars and trucks, as well as fires and explosions--is a toxic, colorless, and odorless gas, and there are more than 50,000 admissions to US emergency rooms due to CO poisoning each year, with many cases involving damaged airways and lungs.

10 Oct 2019

Researchers show how food estrogen migrates through the placenta

The human fetus is considered to be particularly sensitive to environmental contaminants. A team led by Benedikt Warth from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna and Tina Bürki from the Swiss Materials Science and Technology Institute, Empa, has now been able to demonstrate for the first time how the widespread food estrogen zearalenone behaves in the womb.

10 Oct 2019

Imperial scientists aim to re-engineer stump skin for more comfortable prosthetics

People who have had limbs removed often use false arms and legs, known as prosthetics, to improve mobility and independence - but 75 per cent of prosthetic-wearing amputees encounter problems like skin tears, ulceration, and blisters.

10 Oct 2019

Researchers identify genetic mutation that causes idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Researchers in Japan have identified a genetic mutation that causes a severe lung disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis by killing the cells lining the lung's airways.

10 Oct 2019

Brain scans may be promising tool to identify suicide risk in people with mood disorders

Researchers at the University of Utah Health and University of Illinois at Chicago have identified brain circuitry differences that might be associated with suicidal behavior in individuals with mood disorders.

10 Oct 2019

Suppressing brain immune cells might prevent or delay the onset of dementia

Messy tangles of a protein called tau can be found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease and some other neurodegenerative diseases. In Alzheimer's, the tangles coalesce just before tissue damage becomes visible in brain scans and people start to become forgetful and confused.

10 Oct 2019