. who is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical school and Boston Children's Hospital,
passive health and behavioral monitoring paradigm to foster healthy lifestyles or identify early symptoms of certain diseases.
The stress on wind turbine is recorded and then engineers can forecast its remaining service life. When a bearing is subject to a load
and the speed of sound is affected by the stress level in the material. Both these effects change the time of flight of an ultrasound wave through a bearing.
They presented their findings Aug 26 at the 37th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society in Milan, Italy.
The researchers also pointed out that this technique does not pose any serious health risks. Since this technique is intended for applications in ultra low power communication systems
the transmitting power of the magnetic signals sent through the body is expected to be many times lower than that of MRI SCANNERS and wireless implant devices.
while being worn on the wrist could bridge the communications gap between the deaf and those who don know sign language,
and systems to enable healthy living through health monitoring and disease diagnosis, management and prevention.
and overcome the unmet needs of patients and health care providers through the development of breakthrough remote health care devices, biosignal mapping algorithms,
and reduce the cost of health care. About the Texas A&m Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) As an engineering research agency of Texas,
Its benefits include a reduction in the time and cost of the diagnosis of the structure.
they can make the water toxic, and make it smell bad. At high concentrations, bacteria can be toxic in drinking water.
But at lower levels virtually undetectable by current culturing techniques they can cause an ff flavor,
and other microbes by detecting the off flavor they give off. ater that smells bad isn necessarily toxic,
it not that toxic but you don want to wear it because the smell is bad.
even if the water isn toxic, you don want to drink it. We wanted to develop a way to detect
Certain diseases, such as lung cancer, can cause patients to give off particular smells; dogs have been known to detect these,
and a bioelectronic nose opens the path to diagnosis through smell. There also a role for security, for example in drug searches at airports.
says James Collins, the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science in MIT Department of Biological engineering and Institute of Medical Engineering and Science (IMES).
To achieve this, the researchers could program the system to produce proteins that alert immune cells to fight the infection,
a professor of biotechnology and bioengineering at The swiss Federal Institute of technology in Zurich, described this experiment as an legant proof of conceptthat could lead to greatly improved treatments for viral infection. entinel designer cells engineered with the DNA sense
This would represent a quantum leap in antiviral therapy, says Fussenegger, who was involved not in the study.
While treating diseases using this system is likely many years away, it could be used much sooner as a research tool,
#Liquid crystals Detect Protein Fibers Associated with Development of Neurodegenerative Diseases Liquid crystals are familiar to most of us as the somewhat humdrum stuff used to make computer displays and TVS.
as detectors for the protein fibers implicated in the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.
when they are thought to be the most toxic.""It is extremely important that one develop techniques that allow us to detect the formation of these so-called amyloid fibrils
"Amyloid fibrils are protein aggregates that are associated with the development of neurodegenerative diseases including Huntington's disease, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's,
Scientists would like to be able to study their formation both for therapeutic reasons and so that they can test the effect of new drugs on inhibiting their growth.
which the scientists injected the molecules that spontaneously form the toxic aggregates.""As aggregates grow on the membrane,
and staff by up to 30%,allowing an addition of an annual 100 scans a year at Central Manchester University Hospitals.
PET imaging is used widely in the management of cancer patients. Most commonly, an FDG PET scan is carried out to identify areas with high glucose metabolism, such as tumours.
These images are useful for diagnosis, staging and monitoring treatment. Such a scan requires the injection of a radioactive racerwhich is taken up by the tumour tissue
and therefore the procedure has associated an radiation dose for the patient and for staff at the imaging facility A recent study by scientists at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and The University of Manchester investigated
whether technological developments in scanner equipment over the last decade could allow a reduction in the amount of radioactive tracer used.
As a result we have managed to lower the radiation dose for cancer patients and our staff and also increase the numbers of scans we are able to carry out, added Ian l
whether it would remove other disease-causing microorganisms.""I would want to see results for protozoa and viruses,
if it could also tackle non-bacterial infections, such as the tiny parasite cryptosporidium which recently caused a health scare in Lancashire.
whether it would remove other disease-causing microorganisms.""I would want to see results for protozoa and viruses,
if it could also tackle non-bacterial infections, such as the tiny parasite cryptosporidium which recently caused a health scare in Lancashire.
Consequently, using optogenetics to control brain circuits in a mammal currently requires a fibre-optic implant.
this is the property that makes it useful for medical sonograms.""This could be a big advantage
"although this term had already been applied to the idea of combining ultrasound scans with genetic tests for prenatal diagnosis."Light-based techniques are great for some uses and
"But when we make the leap into therapies for humans, I think we have shot a better with noninvasive sonogenetics."
The FDA has approved previously medical devices-including prosthetics-that have been 3d printed. The new drug, dubbed Spritam,
was developed by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals to control seizures brought on by epilepsy. The company said that it planned to develop other medications using its 3d platform.
The 3d printed pill dissolves in the same manner as other oral medicines. Being able to 3d print a tablet offers the potential to create bespoke drugs based on the specific needs of patients,
and shipped them to hospitals and for the first time this process means we can produce tablets much closer to the patient,
It would mean that medical institutions could adjust the dose for individual patients with just a simple tweak to the software before printing.
Previously, such personalised medicine would have been extremely expensive to produce, said Dr Alhnan. 3d printing works by creating an object layer by layer.
In the case of medicines printers are adapted to produce pharmaceutical compounds rather than polymers which are used more usually.
Such methods are already proving very useful in healthcare with doctors using the system to create customised implants for patients with injuries or other conditions.
And dentists, for example, use 3d printers to create replica jaws and teeth as well as other dental implants s
or take medicines"."They will be tested to see how they overcome realistic scenarios, like navigating household clutter or picking things up for mobility-impaired residents.
Wi-fi cameras and sensors have also been installed on furniture, doors, medicine bottles, fridges, plugs and kettles inside the flat, dubbed the Personalised Assisted living facility.
which allows nurses, social workers or doctors to monitor patients remotely. Dr Caleb-Solly said:""If an alert is sent
because there is no activity in the house when a person would normally be up and about,
talks to someone who has dementia? These are vital questions, and the new lab hopes that asking them in a real-life situation will improve their work.
#Definitive tests for irritable bowel syndrome developed at Cedars-Sinai Millions of people afflicted by irritable bowel syndrome can now be diagnosed quickly
when a patient has developed IBS because of food poisoning, a major cause of the disorder. Toxins produced by bacteria,
and amount of specific antibodies reacting to the toxins.""Having an early diagnosis means patients can avoid years of invasive tests and visits to specialists that often leave them with more questions than answers,
"he said.""With these new blood tests, many patients will now be proceed able to right to therapy for their condition."
"IBS is the most common gastroenterological disorder in the United states, affecting nearly 40 million people.
and bouts of relentless diarrhea, constipation, or both. Fatigue and the stress of trying to plan one's life around visits to the bathroom can be debilitating.
A multicenter study validating the accuracy of the new blood tests,"Development and Validation of a Biomarker for Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable bowel syndrome in Human Subjects"
was published this week in the journal PLOS ONE. Pimentel will also present the research on Sunday, May 17th, at Digestive Disease Week 2015 in Washington,
D c. Pimentel and fellow researchers studied nearly 3, 000 people, comparing IBS patients to those diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease and those with no GI disease.
The blood tests identified the two antibodies associated with IBS--anti-Cdtb and anti-vinculin--with greater than 90 percent certainty.
The tests are marketed under the name IBSCHEK #and are produced by Commonwealth Laboratories Inc.,in Salem, Massachusetts."
or another that the disease was psychological, all in their head,"said Pimentel.""The fact that we can now confirm the disease through their blood,
not their head, is going to end a lot of the emotional suffering I have seen these patients endure."
developed by Pimentel to detect both anti-Cdtb and anti-vinculin antibodies in the diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease.
#New age of genome editing could lead to cure for sickle cell anemia Australia researchers have shown that changing just a single letter of the DNA of human red blood cells in the laboratory increases their production of oxygen-carrying haemoglobin-a world-first
advance that could lead to a cure for sickle cell anaemia and other blood disorders. The new genome editing technique, in which a beneficial, naturally-occurring genetic mutation is introduced into cells,
However more research is needed before it can be tested in people as a possible cure for serious blood diseases."
and suffer from life-threatening diseases such as sickle cell anaemia and thalassaemia, which require lifelong treatment with blood transfusions and medication.
The researchers based their new approach on the fact that a small number of people with damaged adult haemoglobin have an additional, beneficial mutation in the foetal haemoglobin gene."
#Early warning gene signature for Alzheimer's A'gene signature'that could be used to predict the onset of diseases, such as Alzheimer's,
Such a molecular profile could be useful for distinguishing people at earlier risk of age-related diseases.
This could improve upon the use of chronological age and complement traditional indicators of disease, such as blood pressure.
whether you get a medical procedure or not. Most people accept that all 60 year olds are not the same,
and should be able to transform the way that'age'is used to make medical decisions.
'The signature was found to be a reliable predictor for risk of age-related disease when studying RNA from tissues including human muscle, brain and skin.
In particular, they demonstrated that patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease had altered an'healthy ageing'RNA signature in their blood,
and therefore a lower healthy age gene score, suggesting significant association with the disease. Timmons added:"
and the brain regions associated with dementia, and it can help contribute to a dementia diagnosis. This also provides strong evidence that dementia in humans could be called a type of'accelerated ageing
'or'failure to activate the healthy ageing program'."'"Given that early intervention is important in Alzheimer's
The method opens up unexpected possibilities for understanding diseases and drug mechanisms. The study's findings are reported in the September 7 issue of Nature Methods.
Ph d.,Wyss Institute Core Faculty member and the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering & Science and Professor of Biological engineering at MIT, is also a co-investigator
"This new functionality will improve our ability to decipher the complex relationships between interdependent genes responsible for many diseases,
-while safeguarding the"microbial workers"from infection by other microbes and pathogens.""Cas9 has emerged as a revolutionary tool allowing us to conquer new biomedical and industrial territory.
This team's findings harness yet another level of control and versatility in gene editing
. who is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical school and Boston Children's Hospital and Professor of Bioengineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of engineering and Applied sciences s
or mechanical stress on the chromosomes into which our genetic material is packaged. To make sure cells stay alive
--and such chromosome fusions can lead to diseases such as cancer. To learn more about the process, Kapoor,
MURATA Yoji at the Kobe University Graduate school of Medicine Division of Molecular and Cellular Signaling, were the first to demonstrate the role of stomach cancer-associated protein tyrosine phosphatase (SAP)- 1 in the pathogenesis and prevention of Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis,
are expected to accelerate the development of targeted therapies for inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases. Inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, are disorders of unknown etiology that are characterized often by abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody stool, fever,
and weight loss. These symptoms frequently interfere with activities of daily living and place patients at an elevated risk of mortality.
Patients are associated also with a high risk of developing colorectal cancer. In Japan, there are an estimated 200,000 patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis,
who qualify for the special Government-led medical assistance system for intractable diseases. Currently the administration of anti-inflammatory agents only provides palliative results,
and the medical community is awaiting new definitive therapies. Although recent studies have demonstrated that intestinal epithelial cells play a critical role in regulating bowel inflammation,
the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. Previously, Prof. MATOZAKI, Assistant Prof. MURATA, and their colleagues found that SAP-1 localizes to the microvilli of the brush border in gastrointestinal epithelial cells.
Here, they showed that SAP-1 ablation in a mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease resulted in a marked increase in the incidence and severity of bowel inflammation
suggesting that SAP-1 plays a protective role against colitis. In addition, carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule (CEACAM) 20,
Suppression of CEACAM20 functions via dephosphorylation was suggested to contribute to preventing colitis. By shedding light on the anti-inflammatory mechanism of the intestinal epithelial cells, Prof.
and CEACAM20 to overcome intractable inflammatory bowel diseases. Prof. MATOZAKI stated, "Since the discovery of SAP-1 at Kobe University in 1994,
Our future research interests are centered on the development of new therapeutics for inflammatory bowel disease that take advantage of our understanding of SAP-1 and CEACAM20 functions
#Detecting HIV diagnostic antibodies with DNA nanomachines New research may revolutionize the slow, cumbersome and expensive process of detecting the antibodies that can help with the diagnosis of infectious and autoimmune diseases.
New research may revolutionize the slow, cumbersome and expensive process of detecting the antibodies that can help with the diagnosis of infectious and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and HIV.
An international team of researchers have designed and synthetized a nanometer scale DNA"machine "whose customized modifications enable it to recognize a specific target antibody.
Their new approach, which they described this month in Angewandte Chemie, promises to support the development of rapid,
low-cost antibody detection at the point-of-care, eliminating the treatment initiation delays and increasing healthcare costs associated with current techniques.
The binding of the antibody to the DNA machine causes a structural change (or switch),
and is rapid-acting within five minutes-enabling the targeted antibodies to be detected easily, even in complex clinical samples such as blood serum."
so that it can detect a huge range of antibodies, this makes our platform adaptable for many different diseases"."
""Our modular platform provides significant advantages over existing methods for the detection of antibodies,"added Prof.
Vallée-Bélisle of the University of Montreal, the other senior co-author of the paper.""It is rapid,
#HIV cure research: NIH scientists create 2-headed protein to deplete HIV reservoir Scientists at the National institutes of health (NIH) have created a protein that awakens resting immune cells infected with HIV
The protein potentially could contribute to a cure for HIV infection by helping deplete the reservoir of long-lived,
and killing of latently HIV-infected helper T cells when the cells were taken from patients on antiretroviral therapy
when given to monkeys infected with a simian form of HIV and receiving antiretroviral therapy.
and the other--based on an antibody called VRC07--powerfully binds to more than 90 percent of HIV strains.
A team of scientists at the Vaccine Research center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases, part of NIH, created VRC07-acd3 under the leadership of VRC Director John R. Mascola, M d.;
and Richard A. Koup, M d.,VRC deputy director and chief of its immunology laboratory a
The method could lead to new ways to treat cancer, type 1 diabetes and viral infections as well as facilitating research into T-cell function.'
'Genome editing in human T-cells has been a notable challenge for the field, 'said lead author Dr Alexander Marson from the University of California, San francisco.'
in this way, T-cells could be manipulated to control cancer or possibly eliminate a tumour entirely. CRISPR/Cas9 involves the identification of specific areas on the DNA.
'said lead author Dr Nicholas Turner, a Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.
The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, looked at 55 patients with early-diagnosed breast cancer,
who had undergone all surgery followed by chemotherapy. The researchers took blood samples from these patients every six months for two years to look for circulating tumour (ct) DNA.
7. 9 months before visible signs were picked up by clinics. After treatment, it is difficult to identify
which is personalised to the mutations of an individual patient's cancer DNA. The test screened the blood for DNA with these mutations.
the test will allow scientists to track further mutations that develop in cancers over time,
as it would allow the tailoring of treatment to the genetic make-up of an individual's cancer.
Professor Paul Workman, Chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, London, said:''We are moving into an era of personalised medicine for cancer patients.
This test could help us stay a step ahead of cancer by monitoring the way it is changing
and picking treatments that exploit the weakness of the particular tumour.''Dr Nick Peel, from Cancer Research UK, said:'
'Finding less invasive ways of diagnosing and monitoring cancer is really important and blood samples have emerged as one possible way of gathering crucial information about a patient's disease.'
'He added:''But there is some way to go before this could be developed into a test that doctors could use routinely,
and doing so is never simple. l
#Breakthrough in rare disease that causes growth of second skeleton Scientists have developed a potential antibody treatment for the rare genetic disease fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), in
which muscle and soft tissue gradually turn to bone. The disease is known to be caused by mutations in the ACVR1 gene,
which codes for a receptor protein that controls bone and muscle development. The mutations make this protein much more active than usual, resulting in the formation of extra bones.
This process is accelerated even by very minor injuries in people with FOP, and this extra bony tissue slowly immobilises the body,
causing problems with eating, breathing and mobility and eventually death. Dr Sarah Hatsell and her colleagues at Regeneron found that the overactivity of the mutant receptor is caused by its altered response to the signalling molecule Activin-A this molecule normally makes AVCR1 less active,
They injected an antibody that blocks Activin-A into mice that had been engineered genetically to have symptoms similar to FOP.
Regeneron is currently performing preclinical safety testing and may eventually conduct clinical trials if a safe clinical trial can be designed.
because people with FOP are so sensitive to injuries; even a simple injection can trigger bone overgrowth.'
'We are very fortunate and grateful that not only did Regeneron make this basic science discovery,
as a biotechnology company with expertise in developing antibodies, they are in a position to act on it
whether this could lead to a meaningful therapy, 'said Betsy Bogard, director of global research development for the International FOP Association i
#'Flu severity'gene identified A key gene that governs the severity of influenza infections has been identified.
Scientists predict that this finding might lead to a new class of antiviral drugs capable of targeting a range of different infections, The british Science Festival heard last week.
By studying samples from the 2009 swine flu outbreak, researchers noticed a strong relationship between severity of influenza symptoms and variants in a gene called IFIT3.
and sometimes fatal, illness when they are infected with the influenza virus. Professor Paul Kellam of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge said:'
'When you have this variant you have a four-to fivefold increased chance of severe influenza
when exposed to a virus that is otherwise causing mild or no disease in the wider population.'
Early signs are that drugs that increase the activity of IFIT3 may be effective treatments for other viral diseases as well.'
from flu to dengue and Ebola,'commented Professor Kellam.''We have broad-spectrum antibiotics that work against a range of bacteria...
During flu epidemics, rapid testing for the rs12252 variant in hospital emergency departments could help to identify people at risk of developing severe influenza and prioritise them for treatment.
Using the test in healthy people could also lead to a personalised approach to influenza vaccination.
At present, an annual flu vaccine is recommended for groups such as the over-65s pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions, who are believed to be at greater risk of influenza complications.
Identifying those who are genetically susceptible could help doctors to decide more accurately who should receive influenza vaccination n
#eyond revolutionary bioreactor-in-a-briefcase brings warzone production The project, sponsored by a coalition including Thermo Fisher, Pfizer,
and the US government, aims at warzone use but the tech could also be applied to public quarantines, personalised medicine,
and ultra-low cost vaccine manufacturing, says Govind Rao who leads the research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Center for Advanced Sensor Technology.
as healthcare increasingly moves from hospitals to patient homes with the advent of technology like home diabetes tests. perfect storm in healthcare is happening,
and butter of our industry today with a suitcase-sized device that will make GMP therapeutics at the point of care within a few hours. know it sounds completely nuts. ield tests
and antibodies using the tech. The team still has to contend with a host of regulatory issues,
and Rao recognised that this sort of expensive military medicine touches only he 0. 01 per cent.
Cell-free production tech could be used to produce low-cost vaccines tremendous paradigm shift is definitely comingas well as personalised medicines.
Any future civil quarantines in response to flu pandemics could also provide a ump-startto adoption of portable tech,
and the US government, aims at warzone use but the tech could also be applied to public quarantines, personalised medicine,
and ultra-low cost vaccine manufacturing, says Govind Rao who leads the research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Center for Advanced Sensor Technology.
as healthcare increasingly moves from hospitals to patient homes with the advent of technology like home diabetes tests. perfect storm in healthcare is happening,
and butter of our industry today with a suitcase-sized device that will make GMP therapeutics at the point of care within a few hours. know it sounds completely nuts.
and antibodies using the tech. The team still has to contend with a host of regulatory issues
and Rao recognised that this sort of expensive military medicine touches only he 0. 01 per cent.
Cell-free production tech could be used to produce low-cost vaccines tremendous paradigm shift is definitely comingas well as personalised medicines.
Any future civil quarantines in response to flu pandemics could also provide a ump-startto adoption of portable tech,
#Researcher Discovers Molecules That Kill Cancer, Protect Healthy Cells Researchers have identified new molecules that kill cancer cells
while protecting healthy cells and that could be used to treat a variety of different cancers.
The research and preclinical trial results were published this month as an open access article in EBIOMEDICINE,
Professor Lu has applied the tool to understand the molecular mechanisms that cause cancer at the very moment
in particular the widely used platinum chemotherapeutic Cisplatin, work in treating a variety of cancers.""We know DNA damage is the initial step,
"With the novel femtomedicine approach we can go back to the very beginning to find out what causes DNA damage in the first place, then mutation, and then cancer."
"By understanding more about the fundamental mechanisms of the diseases, Professor Lu preselected molecules most likely to be effective as anticancer agents.
but containing no toxic platinum. Preclinical studies with various cultured human cells as well as on rodents show that these new molecules are effective against cervical,
breast, ovarian, and lung cancers. Cisplatin, discovered more than 40 years ago, is an important, widely used platinum-based anticancer agent.
Unfortunately, the inclusion of platinum in the molecule causes serious side effects like neurotoxicity kidney damage, hearing loss, nausea and vomiting."
"It is extremely rare to discover anticancer agents that can selectively kill cancer cells and protect healthy cells,
as well as being effective in treating many different types of cancer and having a novel molecular mechanism of action.
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