The Medical Thread

Dazzling Images of the Brain Created by Neuroscientist-Artist: "The brain has been called the most complex structure in the universe, but it may also be the most beautiful. One artist's work captures both the aesthetics and sophistication of this most enigmatic organ.

Greg Dunn earned a Ph D in neuroscience before deciding to become a professional artist. 'I had been a scientist in my previous life,' Dunn said.

The patterns of branching neurons he saw through the microscope reminded him of the aesthetic principles in Asian art, which he had always admired. Dunn realized that neurons could be painted in the sumi-e (ink wash painting) style, which involves making as few brush strokes as possible to capture the soul of the subject."

Syphilis Sailed The Ocean Blue: Why A Bent Femur Won’t Overturn Columbus Theory: "In 1495 a horrific new disease appeared in Europe. Acquired by sexual contact and initially spread through Europe by mercenary soldiers from the army of King Charles VIII of France returning from a successful invasion of Italy, this new disease was extraordinarily unpleasant. Commentators at the time described dark green “boils that stood out like acorns,” accompanied by a stench so vile that if you smelt it you would imagine yourself infected, and by pains so severe that it was 'as if the sick had laid upon a fire'.

This new disease went by a variety of names, including The Great Pox, but most people preferred to blame it on the neighbours: the British called it the 'French disease,' the French called it the 'Italian' or 'Neapolitan disease' and the Italians called it the 'Spanish disease'. Today it is more widely known now as syphilis, an infection caused by the Treponema pallidum bacteria.

The most widely accepted theory is that syphilis was brought to Europe from the New World following Columbus’s voyage in 1492. But ideas about the origin of the infection still cause controversy. Most recent is the claim that bones found in Croatia that appear to show signs of syphilitic infection and which pre-date Columbus' expedition suggest the disease was around since Roman times. But a look at the wider evidence we have suggests otherwise."

Reasons for malaria's drug resistance discovered: "Scientists have discovered, in a breakthrough study, exactly how the malaria parasite is developing resistance towards the most important front-line drugs used to treat the disease. Malaria is a mosquito-borne parasite which affects over 60 million people worldwide and in serious cases, can be fatal. There is currently no viable vaccine for malaria while antimalarial drugs and prophylaxis are losing its efficacy with increasing drug resistance."

Virtual bodyswapping diminishes people's negative biases about others: "Researchers explain how they have used the brain's ability to bring together information from different senses to make white people feel that they were inhabiting black bodies and adults feel like they had children's bodies. The results of such virtual bodyswapping experiments are remarkable and have important implications for approaching phenomena such as race and gender discrimination."

Show us how you play and it may tell us who you are: "The way in which toys are handled and combined with one another during object play can tell use a lot about the cognitive underpinnings of the actors. An international team of scientists studied parrot species, as well as crow species, with the same set of toys and found out that the birds willingly brought objects into complex spatial relationships: behaviors that occur in only a few species of primates."

An anti-anxiety drug has "woken up" a minimally-conscious patient: "A minimally-conscious patient in Pisa, Italy, who was given a common anti-anxiety medication has unexpectedly “woke up” and started chatting with the anaesthesiologist.

He also called his aunt over the phone and congratulated his brother on his recent graduation. Then, just as suddenly, he returned to a near-vegetative state when the drug wore off, as Michael Byrne reports for Motherboard."

Molecular 'hats' allow in vivo activation of disguised signaling peptides: "When someone you know is wearing an unfamiliar hat, you might not recognize them. Georgia Institute of Technology researchers are using just such a disguise to sneak biomaterials containing peptide signaling molecules into living animals.

When the disguised peptides are needed to launch biological processes, the researchers shine ultraviolet light onto the molecules through the skin, causing the "hat" structures to come off. That allows cells and other molecules to recognize and interact with the peptides on the surface of the material.

This light-activated triggering technique has been demonstrated in animal models, and if it can be made to work in humans, it could help provide more precise timing for processes essential to regenerative medicine, cancer treatment, immunology, stem cell growth, and a range of other areas. The research represents the first time biological signals presented on biomaterials have been activated by light through the skin of a living animal, and could provide a broader platform technology for launching and controlling biological processes in living animals."

How brain can distinguish good from bad smells: "In fruit flies, the quality and intensity of odors can be mapped in the so-called lateral horn, scientists have found. They have created a spatial map of this part of the olfactory processing system in the fly brain and showed that the lateral horn can be segregated into three activity domains, each of which represents an odor category."

Feeling younger than actual age meant lower early death rate for older people, study finds: "Turns out, feeling younger than your actual age might be good for you. Older people who felt three or more years younger than their chronological age had a lower death rate compared with those who felt their age or who felt more than one year older than their actual age, researchers found."

New technology directly reprograms skin fibroblasts for a new role: "As the main component of connective tissue in the body, fibroblasts are the most common type of cell. Taking advantage of that ready availability, scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the Wistar Institute, Boston University School of Medicine, and New Jersey Institute of Technology have discovered a way to repurpose fibroblasts into functional melanocytes, the body's pigment-producing cells. The technique has immediate and important implications for developing new cell-based treatments for skin diseases such as vitiligo, as well as new screening strategies for melanoma. The work was published this week in Nature Communications."

Sparks literally fly when an egg meets sperm, world-first images reveal: "Researchers in the US have captured the first images of the exact moment when a mammal's egg is fertilised to show that, in response, it releases billions of zinc atoms that create tiny ‘zinc sparks’ at the point of conception."

Cutting a baby’s umbilical cord 2 minutes later can improve development: "Usually, as soon as a child is born, the doctors quickly check that it’s healthy and breathing properly, and then, within seconds of birth, clamp its umbilical cord and cut it off, before handing it back to the mother.

But a new study conducted by the University of Granada in Spain has shown that simply delaying that process by two minutes influences how resistant to oxidative stress newborns are.

Oxidative stress is an imbalance between free radicals and the baby’s antioxidant defences, and it’s associated with triggering inflammation."

Bacteria on pubic hair could be used to identify rapists: "When it comes to identifying a rapist, one of the main pieces of evidence police analyze are pubic hairs found at the crime scene. But most of these hairs are missing their roots and thus don’t harbor enough DNA for a proper match. Now, a new study suggests there may be a better way to finger the criminal: Look at the bacteria he left behind."

Runtastic turns to VR for optimal workouts: "Some people avoid technology altogether when it comes time to switch off stress and turn on a feeling of health and well-being. They put on a pair of shoes and start walking. They get on a bike and start cycling. They stretch their legs and start jogging. Unwired, gadget-free, and, yes, data-free, they work out. The industry that has adapted technologies to fitness, however, is not interested in such a crowd. Rather, the fitness-band, heart and pulse-tracking vendors of hardware and software apps are far more interested in those who would like to see measured results and health-maintenance data realtime using their products. Runtastic is in this camp of those in the business offering ways to optimize fitness efforts. Runtastic offers apps with names such as Six Pack, Sleep Better, Strength & Toning, and Runtastic Me. They work with the company's hardware. Data syncs to Runtastic.com where users view online training logs, data analysis and access online services, such as training plans."

Baby cells learn to communicate using the lsd1 gene: "We would not expect a baby to join a team or participate in social situations that require sophisticated communication. Yet, most developmental biologists have assumed that young cells, only recently born from stem cells and known as 'progenitors,' are already competent at inter-communication with other cells.

New research from Carnegie's Allan Spradling and postdoctoral fellow Ming-Chia Lee shows that infant cells have to go through a developmental process that involves specific genes before they can take part in the group interactions that underlie normal cellular development and keep our tissues functioning smoothly. The existence of a childhood state where cells cannot communicate fully has potentially important implications for our understanding of how gene activity on chromosomes changes both during normal development and in cancerous cells. The work is published in Genes and Development."

Microbiome may have shaped early human populations: "We humans have an exceptional age structure compared to other animals: Our children remain dependent on their parents for an unusually long period and our elderly live an extremely long time after they have stopped procreating.

Could the microscopic fellow travelers that consider the human body to be their home - collectively known as the microbiome - have played an active role in shaping and maintaining this unusual aspect of human nature?

That is the speculative proposition advanced by Martin Blaser, professor of medicine and microbiology at NYU's Langone Medical Center, and supported by mathematical models produced by Glenn Webb, professor of mathematics at Vanderbilt University. They present their argument in a paper titled, 'Host demise as a beneficial function of indigenous microbiota in human hosts,' published online today in mBio, the journal of the American Society for Microbiology."

When you lose weight, where does the fat go? Most of the mass is breathed out as carbon dioxide, study shows: "Despite a worldwide obsession with diets and fitness regimes, many health professionals cannot correctly answer the question of where body fat goes when people lose weight, a new study shows. The most common misconception among doctors, dieticians and personal trainers is that the missing mass has been converted into energy or heat. The correct answer is that most of the mass is breathed out as carbon dioxide and goes into thin air."

Thumbs-up for mind-controlled robotic arm: "A paralyzed woman who controlled a robotic arm using just her thoughts has taken another step towards restoring her natural movements by controlling the arm with a range of complex hand movements."

Herd mentality: Are we programmed to make bad decisions?: "A natural desire to be part of the 'in crowd' could damage our ability to make the right decisions, a new study has shown.

Research led by the University of Exeter has shown that individuals have evolved to be overly influenced by their neighbours, rather than rely on their own instinct. As a result, groups become less responsive to changes in their natural environment.

The collaborative international study, which includes academics from Princeton University and both the Sorbonne Universites and Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA) in France, is published in the Royal Society journal Interface."

Here's when you should be drinking your coffee, according to science

Basically, if you're drinking coffee between 8 and 9 am, you're wasting your time because that's when your cortisol level is at its peak.

Men who like spicy food have higher testosterone levels, study suggests: "A new study by French scientists shows that there’s a link between a male’s preference for spicy food and his levels of testosterone - the hormone linked to typically "manly" traits, such as aggression, high sex drive and risk-taking.

The researchers from the University of Grenoble gave 114 men aged between 18 and 44 a plain bowl of mashed potato, and told them to season it with as much hot sauce and salt as they liked.

After they’d eaten, the scientists measured how hot and salty their meal had been and took saliva samples. They found that the men who’d doused their food in hot sauce had higher testosterone levels then their peers who’d gone for milder heat."

Three short walks can reverse the damage of three hours of sitting

On Death Battle's famous Goku vs Superman episode, it was stated that Superman practices a mental discipline that allows him to enter the "theta state" for vastly increased mental focus, which is according to the on-show analysis a real-life phenomenon. Does anyone here know anything about this?

Origin of the Eukaryotic cell: Part II - Cytoskeleton, membranes, and beyond

Can e-cigarettes actually help smokers quit?: "Medical devices don’t typically come in flavors like 'Spiked Nog,' 'Apple Jaxx,' or 'Aphrodite’s Affair,' but proponents of e-cigarettes—introduced in 2006—have argued that the pen-shaped nicotine vaporizers could help cigarette smokers kick the habit. Now, a review of the scientific literature, published today, lends credibility to this claim, although the matter is far from settled."

Lens-free microscope can detect cancer at cellular level: "A lens-free microscope that can be used to detect the presence of cancer or other cell-level abnormalities with the same accuracy as larger and more expensive optical microscopes, has been developed by researchers. The invention could lead to less expensive and more portable technology for performing common examinations of tissue, blood and other biomedical specimens. It may prove especially useful in remote areas and in cases where large numbers of samples need to be examined quickly."

This fiscal year sees more federal funding allocated to pseudoscience with the reestablishment of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

Highlights of their past endeavors include advocating of homeopathy(corn-starch tablets combined with 1800's mysticism), reiki("Magic energy/touching"), and Chinese medicine (herbal/folk remedies) for cancer patients. Yet another thing to siphon money away from actual beneficial research. . .

Ahem, that article talks about a name change. I am not sure if it's only for quackery, either.

Need to dig up the actual bill its attached to, but the name change comes with renewed funding. The organization in question is rather infamous for drawing funding from legit medical research under the guise of "researching the veracity of alternative cures" despite there being a mountain of research existing already debunking them.

They're deeply tied to the Republican/Libertarian "naturopathic medicine" camp, with the likes of Joseph Mercola and vaccine conspiracy theorists.

edit: A rather scathing writeup on the institution from the Chicago Tribune from 2011.

edited 18th Dec '14 8:42:30 AM by carbon-mantis

New technique moves researchers closer to new range of GaN biosensors: "Researchers from North Carolina State University have found a way of binding peptides to the surface of gallium nitride (GaN) in a way that keeps the peptides stable even when exposed to water and radiation. The discovery moves researchers one step closer to developing a new range of biosensors for use in medical and biological research applications."

Copper bed rails kill hospital-related infections on contact: "Copper is a bacterium's worst nightmare, so researchers are coating hospital bed rails in it to curb the hundreds of millions of cases of healthcare-acquired infections around the world."

Learning a new word stimulates the same region of the brain as sex: "A new study has revealed that expanding your vocabulary can be as pleasurable as rewarding activities such as sex, great food and doing drugs."

Life expectancy increases globally as death toll falls from major diseases: "People are living much longer worldwide than they were two decades ago, as death rates from infectious diseases and cardiovascular disease have fallen, according to a new, first-ever journal publication of country-specific cause-of-death data for 188 countries."

Genetic ancestry of different ethnic groups varies across the United States: "The United States is a melting pot of different racial and ethnic groups, but it has not been clear how the genetic ancestry of these populations varies across different geographic regions. In a landmark study, researchers analyzed the genomes of more than 160,000 African-Americans, Latinos, and European-Americans, providing novel insights into the subtle differences in genetic ancestry across the United States."

Expectant fathers experience prenatal hormone changes: "Impending fatherhood can lower two hormones — testosterone and estradiol — for men, even before their babies are born, a new study found. This is the first study to show that the decline may begin even before the child's birth, during the transition to fatherhood."

A clear, molecular view of how human color vision evolved: "Many genetic mutations in visual pigments, spread over millions of years, were required for humans to evolve from a primitive mammal with a dim, shadowy view of the world into a greater ape able to see all the colors in a rainbow. Now, after more than two decades of painstaking research, scientists have finished a detailed and complete picture of the evolution of human color vision."

Japanese scientist resigns over stem cell scandal: "A researcher embroiled in a fabrication scandal that has rocked Japan's scientific establishment said Friday she would resign after failing to reproduce results of what was once billed as a ground-breaking study on stem cells.

Haruko Obokata said she was dismayed that new laboratory tests have not been able to repeat her experiments, which she had claimed showed the successful conversion of an adult cell into a stem cell-like state."

WATCH: Is MSG bad for you?

Short answer: Not really.

Most mammals take 21 seconds to pee, regardless of their size: "Research has revealed that, regardless of size, all mammals larger than rats take roughly the same amount of time to urinate - 21 seconds.

In fact, as the infographic above shows, an African elephant can actually empty its 18 Litres of urine onto the ground in less time than a Great Dane empties its pitiful 1.5-Litre bladder. Don't even mention the fact that a cat only has a teaspoon of pee to get rid of in the same timeframe.

The research, led by David Hu, a mechanical engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, US, discovered that this universal urination timeframe is a result of our urethra - the tube that connects our bladders to the outside world - being designed as a 'flow-enhancing device'."

Ibuprofen boosts some organisms’ life spans: "Ibuprofen can banish headaches and soothe throbbing joints, but the drug may have another benefit. A new study shows that it increases longevity in lab organisms, raising the possibility it does the same thing in people."

Glutamate and its effector Ca2+ are two very important venoms in various brain diseases. That's where the "MSG is harmful" theory comes from, but I never understood how food supplied calcium could create the same problem.

With regards to ibuprofen, they ought to check mTOR. Most protein deprivation pathways run through mTOR.

All this from something originally synthesized from seaweed.

Neuroscientists identify brain mechanisms that predict generosity in children: "Developmental neuroscientists have found specific brain markers that predict generosity in children. Those neural markers appear to be linked to both social and moral evaluation processes. Although young children are natural helpers, their perspective on sharing resources tends to be selfish."

New technique reveals immune cell motion through variety of tissues: "Neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, are the immune system's all-terrain vehicles. The cells are recruited to fight infections or injury in any tissue or organ in the body despite differences in the cellular and biochemical composition. Researchers from Brown University's School of Engineering and the Department of Surgery in the Warren Alpert Medical School collaborated to devise a new technique for understanding how neutrophils move in these confined spaces.

The technique involves two hydrogel sacks sandwiched together with a miniscule space in between. Neutrophils could be placed in that space, mimicking the confinement they experience within tissue. Time-lapse cameras measure how fast the cells move, and traction force microscopes determine the forces the cells exert on the surrounding gel.

In a paper published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the researchers used the device to reveal new details about the motion of neutrophils. Bodily tissues are highly confined, densely packed, three-dimensional spaces that can vary widely in physical shape and elasticity. The researchers showed that neutrophils are sensitive to the physical aspects of their environment: They behave differently on flat surfaces than in confined three-dimensional space. Ultimately, the team hopes the system can be useful in screening drugs aimed at optimizing neutrophils to fight infection in specific tissue types."

Lips Are The Most Exposed Erogenous Zone, Which Makes Kissing Feel Very Good: "Scientists in the Netherlands have reported that we share about 80m bacteria during a passionate ten-second kiss; a finding that makes puckering up seem cringe-worthy – and downright unsanitary at the start of cold and flu season.

But take heart: we’re more likely to get sick by shaking hands throughout the day than through kissing. And the science behind this behaviour reveals that along with all of those germs, we share plenty of benefits with a partner as well.

Kissing is not all about bacterial exchange or romance. Our first experiences with love and security usually involve lip pressure and stimulation through behaviours that mimic kissing, like nursing or bottle feeding. These early events lay down important neural pathways in a baby’s brain that associate kissing with positive emotions that continue to be important in throughout his life."

Japan scientists develop micro-fine adhesive sensors: "Scientists in Japan have developed a sticky sheet of tiny sensors that can be put directly on moving joints, beating hearts or other living tissues.

The invention opens up the possibility of implanting almost unnoticeable sensors inside the body, letting doctors keep a close eye on a dodgy heart, for example."

Experts Say Half The Advice On Dr. Oz And The Doctors Is Wrong Or Lacks Evidence

Lost memories might be able to be restored, suggests research into marine snail: 'New research indicates that lost memories can be restored, according to new research into a type of marine snail called Aplysia. The findings offer some hope for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease."

Early exposure to antidepressants affects adult anxiety, serotonin transmission: "Early developmental exposure to two different antidepressants, Prozac and Lexapro, has been studied by researchers in a mouse model that mimics human third trimester medication exposure. They found that, although these serotonin-selective reuptake inhibiting antidepressants were thought to work the same way, they did not produce the same long-term changes in anxiety behavior in the adult mice. About 15 percent of women in the United States suffer from anxiety disorders and depression during their pregnancies, and many are prescribed antidepressants."

Truffles contain 'bliss' molecule: "The demeanour of pigs and dogs used by truffle hunters when they are close to making a find might best be described as animated. Or possibly even frantic. So what is it about the subterranean delicacies that triggers such vigorous enthusiasm in the animals trained to sniff them out?

Italian scientists may have hit on the answer. It turns out the black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) contains a “bliss molecule” similar to the substance that gives cannabis its psychoactive properties."

What was the 'Paleo diet'? There was far more than one, study suggests: "The Paleolithic diet, or caveman diet, a weight-loss craze in which people emulate the diet of plants and animals eaten by early humans during the Stone Age, gives modern calorie-counters great freedom because those ancestral diets likely differed substantially over time and space, according to researchers at Georgia State University and Kent State University.

Their findings are published in The Quarterly Review of Biology.

'Based on evidence that's been gathered over many decades, there's very little evidence that any early hominids had very specialized diets or there were specific food categories that seemed particularly important, with only a few possible exceptions,' said Dr. Ken Sayers, a postdoctoral researcher at the Language Research Center of Georgia State. 'Some earlier workers had suggested that the diets of bears and pigs—which have an omnivorous, eclectic feeding strategy that varies greatly based on local conditions—share much in common with those of our early ancestors. The data tend to support this view.'"

Brain scans have revealed why some people get so depressed in winter: " Scientists from the University of Copenhagan in Denmark may have identified an underlying biological cause of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and helped explain why the “winter blues” can be so severe for some people.

Brain scans have revealed that people who develop SAD have less access to serotonin, the brain signalling compound associated with feelings of wellbeing and happiness, as the days get shorter in the winter months.

This is because their brains ramp up the production of a transporter protein called serotonin transporter (SERT), which transports serotonin into the nerve cells where it’s not active."

Researchers solve the mystery of how humans evolved colour vision: "After two decades of work, an international team of researchers has discovered how humans evolved to see all the colours of the rainbow. By figuring out how our ancestors swapped ultraviolet (UV) vision for blue-light (or violet) vision, they have finally pieced together a timeline for one of our species' most defining features."

This device can diagnose 1,000 pathogens in your blood in 6 hours: "Researchers have created a device that can diagnose 1,000 pathogens in just six hours, and it could change the way doctors fight disease.

Called IRIDICA, the device is pretty radical. Right now, when doctors want to diagnose a disease, they need to take a patient’s blood sample and separate it into lots of different tubes to be individually tested for particular pathogens.

This means that if someone has a pathogen that the doctor isn’t looking for, they’re not going to find it. It also means the whole process of diagnosis is slower than it needs to be.

But over the past 15 years, researchers have been working on IRIDICA, in the hopes that they could use it to monitor any blood sample and find out what was lurking inside. Their device has now been commercialised by pharmaceutical company Abbott."

This is why you’re always getting lost: "Have you ever stared at a map on your phone, utterly confused, as your GPS cryptically directed you to “head east”? It turns out that the entorhinal region of the brain—an area best known for its role in memory formation—may be at least partly to blame for your poor sense of direction. According to a study published online today in Current Biology, this brain region may help humans decide which direction to go to reach a destination. "

Cells 'feel' their surroundings using finger-like structures: "Cells have finger-like projections that they use to feel their surroundings. They can detect the chemical environment and they can 'feel' their physical surroundings using ultrasensitive sensors. New research shows how the finger-like structures, called filopodia, can extend themselves, contract and bend in dynamic movements."

[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141222143019.htm New non-invasive method can detect Alzheimer's disease early]]: "A noninvasive MRI approach that can detect the Alzheimer's disease in a living animal, well before typical Alzheimer's symptoms appear, has been developed by researchers. The research team created an MRI probe that pairs a magnetic nanostructure with an antibody that seeks out the amyloid beta brain toxins responsible for onset of the disease. The accumulated toxins, because of the associated magnetic nanostructures, show up as dark areas in MRI scans of the brain."

Light-emitting e-readers before bedtime can adversely impact sleep: "Use of a light-emitting electronic device (LE-eBook) in the hours before bedtime can adversely impact overall health, alertness, and the circadian clock which synchronizes the daily rhythm of sleep to external environmental time cues, according to new research that compared the biological effects of reading an LE-eBook compared to a printed book."

New technology makes tissues, someday maybe organs: "A new device for building large tissues from living components of three-dimensional microtissues borrows on ideas from electronics manufacturing. The Bio-Pick, Place, and Perfuse is a step toward someday making whole organs."

Financial decisions: Older adults' lifetime of acquired expertise offsets declining ability to process information: "Getting old doesn't spell doom when it comes to making important financial decisions, a team of researchers led by a University of California, Riverside assistant professor report in a just published paper.

Using credit scores and cognitive ability tests, the researchers found evidence that 'crystallized intelligence,' which is gained through experience and accumulated knowledge, is more important that 'fluid intelligence,' the ability to think logically and process new information. Past research has clearly shown that fluid intelligence decreases with old age, a phenomenon known as 'cognitive decline.'"

Artificial sweeteners bring on glucose intolerance and alter gut microbiota: "Those who consume high amounts of artificial sweetener may be putting themselves at risk of developing glucose intolerance, according to new research."

This is why you're so hangry, according to science: "The concept of being ‘hangry’ - angry because you’re hungry - comes up among Science Alert staff more than we’d like to admit. But there’s nothing wrong with being hangry - there’s a scientific reason why having low blood sugar can make some people aggressive.

According to a study published earlier this year, blood sugar levels directly correlated to how married couples were likely to treat each other. Working with 107 couples over three weeks, the researchers, led by psychologist Brad Bushman from the Ohio State University in the US, found that when individuals experienced lower than usual blood sugar levels, they became increasingly aggressive and downright mean towards their significant others."

Drug helps Huntington’s disease-afflicted mice, and their offspring: "Famine, drug abuse and even stress can “silence” certain genes, causing health problems in generations to come. Now scientists are wondering: Could therapies that change gene expression in parents help their children?"

Indiegogo project NANOPLUG – Offering the world's smallest hearing aid: "A small team of researchers and engineers has developed the Nanoplug and have created an Indiegogo project to further develop what they describe as the world's first invisible hearing aid. First conceived by Nevena Zivic and then brought to fruition by industrial designer, Jongha Lee, audio engineer Mladen Stavri and electromechanical engineer Zoran Marinovic, the Nanoplug is meant to be less intrusive than other hearing aids, less noticeable (the team claims it cannot be seen by others) and less expensive.

As its name implies the Nanoplug is tiny—its parts are even tinier. The whole thing is just 7.1mm x 5.7mm x 4.17mm which, the teams says is half the size of any other hearing aid, and was made possible by advances in nanotechnology, most notably in the US Photonics Endure nanobattery (just 0.85x1.357x0.3mm in size) which Lee describes as about the size of a grain of sand and able to go six days between recharges. On their Indiegogo page, the team claims the hearing aid has no toxic chemicals inside, nor heavy metals. It does however, offer feedback cancelation and adaptive noise reduction.

The Nanoplug can be programmed using software running on a computer, the results of which can be downloaded directly to the device via a cable. Those that order the device will also send in their hearing prescription which will be programmed into the device prior to shipping. Individual preferences for different environments can also be programmed and downloaded onto the device, e.g. for listening to the television, versus conversation in a restaurant. Options can be selected by the wearer by simply tapping on the ear once the Nanoplug has been put in place."

Diagnosing the past to predict the future of Salmonella infections: "Different strains of Salmonella behave in different ways. Understanding how and why four closely related strains evolved to lead a more host adapted invasive life-style is at the heart of new research into the evolution of Salmonella microorganisms.

Paul Barrow, Professor of Veterinary Infectious Diseases at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, has worked with colleagues in the Sanger Institute at Cambridge for a number of years on the Salmonella strains, S. Gallinarum and S. Pullorum in chickens and S. Dublin in cattle. All three strains cause typhoid-like symptoms in chickens and cattle and they are also closely related to S. Enteritidis—the bug that causes severe food-poisoning in humans."

edited 23rd Dec '14 12:48:42 PM by rmctagg09

Researchers shed light on how 'microbial dark matter' might cause disease: "One of the great recent discoveries in modern biology was that the human body contains 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells. But much of that bacteria is still a puzzle to scientists.

It is estimated by scientists that roughly half of bacteria living in human bodies is difficult to replicate for scientific research—which is why biologists call it "microbial dark matter." Scientists, however, have long been determined to learn more about these uncultivable bacteria, because they may contribute to the development of certain debilitating and chronic diseases."