#Turning up the heat: Holey metamaterials enhance thermal energy harvesting It's estimated that the U s. fails to use more than half of the energy it generates--mostly
An abnormally high or low white blood count, for instance, might indicate a bone marrow pathology or AIDS.
The rupturing of white blood cells might be the sign of an underlying microbial or viral infection.
Strangely shaped cells often indicate cancer. While this old, simple technique may seem a quaint throwback in the age of high-technology health care tools like genetic sequencing
flow cytometry and fluorescent tagging, the high cost and infrastructure requirements of these techniques largely limit them to laboratory settings--something point-of-care diagnostics aims to fix.
Her research involves translating molecular imaging research to point-of-care diagnostics--describes the fluorescence microscope system this week in a paper published in Biomedical Optics Express, from The Optical Society.
#Gene could hold key to treating Parkinson's disease Researchers at King's college London have identified a new gene linked to nerve function,
which could provide a treatment target for'switching off'the gene in people with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's disease affects approximately 7-10 million people worldwide and is characterized by progressive loss of motor function, psychiatric symptoms and cognitive impairment.
Current treatments for Parkinson's only treat symptoms of the disease rather than its underlying causes,
so these new findings in fruit flies could lead to novel preventative treatments if replicated in humans.
play an important role in a number of diseases that affect the nervous system, including Parkinson's.
nerve function in flies with Parkinson's disease was restored. By deactivating the HIFALPHA gene the early failure of nerve cells caused by mitochondrial damage was prevented.
An identical effect was observed in flies with Leigh syndrome, a rare neurological disorder caused by a severe mitochondrial defect,
Dr Joseph Bateman from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (Ioppn) at King's college London, said:'
'Like their human counterparts flies with Parkinson's disease progressively lose motor function, which includes a negative impact on their ability to climb.
Their findings, published in Neurosurgery, lend hope to patients around the world with neurological conditions that are difficult to treat due to a barrier mechanism that prevents approximately 98 percent of drugs from reaching the brain and central nervous system."
"We are developing a platform that may eventually be used to deliver a variety of drugs to the brain,
"Although we are currently looking at neurodegenerative disease, there is potential for the technology to be expanded to psychiatric diseases, chronic pain,
seizure disorders and many other conditions affecting the brain and nervous system down the road.""Using nasal mucosal grafting,
a therapeutic protein in testing for treating Parkinson's disease, to the brains of mice. They showed through behavioral
and histological data capture that their delivery method was equivalent to direct injection of GDNF--the current gold standard for delivering this drug in Parkinson's disease despite its traumatic nature and high complication rates--in diffusing drugs to the brain.
because the therapy has been shown to delay and even reverse disease progression of Parkinson's disease in preclinical models.
"Brain diseases are notoriously difficult to treat due to the natural protections the body builds against intrusion,
and we look forward to the next stage of research to further test its utility in people with Parkinson's disease."
"Nasal mucosal grafting is a technique regularly used in the ENT field to reconstruct the barrier around the brain after surgery to the skull base.
ENT surgeons commonly use endoscopic approaches to remove brain tumors through the nose by making a window through the blood-brain barrier to access the brain.
with the nasal lining protecting the brain from infection just as the blood brain barrier has done. Dr. Bleier saw an opportunity to apply these techniques to the widespread clinical dilemma of delivering drugs across the barrier to the brain and central nervous system.
surgeons may create a"screen door"to allow for drug delivery to the brain and central nervous system. The technique has the potential to benefit a large population of patients with neurodegenerative disorders,
where there remains a specific unmet need for blood-brain penetrating therapeutic delivery strategies.""We see this expanding beyond Parkinson's disease,
as there are multiple diseases of the brain that do not have good therapeutic options, "Dr. Bleier said."
"It is a platform that opens doors for new discovery and could enable drug development for an underserved population
#Internal fingerprint sensor peers inside fingertips for more surefire ID In the 1971 film Diamonds are Forever,
The researchers report their results in the journal Biomedical Optics Express, from The Optical Society (OSA."
Cardiac experts find novel approach to treat heart failure A teenage girl faced with sudden rapid heart deterioration,
a man in the prime years of his life suffering from debilitating heart failure and a former NFL athlete crippled by end-stage heart failure were treated all successfully with a surgical approach pioneered by cardiac experts at University of California, San diego School of medicine.
The work, recently published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, demonstrated significant benefits of implanting a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) in the right atrium to provide better blood flow through the lungs,
giving complete biventricular circulatory support and fully replacing the heart's function. An LVAD is a small mechanical pump traditionally placed inside the left ventricle--one of four chambers of the heart,
and death for a person waiting for a transplant or suffering from advanced heart failure.""An LVAD relieves symptoms,
or short of breath in patients with advanced heart disease,"said Victor Pretorius, MBCHB, lead author of the report and surgical director of cardiac transplant and mechanical circulatory support at UC San diego Health."
"The caveat is that the LVAD still depends on the right side of the patient's heart to function optimally,
Two of three patients in the study received successful heart transplants after receiving right-sided circulatory support
and hope,"said Eric Adler, MD, co-auther of the report and director of cardiac transplant and mechanical circulatory support at UC San diego Health.
""This opens up huge possibilities for the future including the development of technology you can control with your mind as well as enabling the development of methods for helping those with paralysis to have direct brain control to the affected areas
#New computational strategy finds brain tumor-shrinking molecules Patients with glioblastoma, a type of malignant brain tumor,
usually survive fewer than 15 months following diagnosis . Since there are no effective treatments for the deadly disease, University of California,
San diego researchers developed a new computational strategy to search for molecules that could be developed into glioblastoma drugs.
In mouse models of human glioblastoma, one molecule they found shrank the average tumor size by half.
whose binding is essential for the tumor's survival and growth. This study is the first to demonstrate successful inhibition of this type of protein,
Phd, research scientist at UC San diego Moores Cancer Center, as well as the San diego Supercomputer Center and Department of Neurosciences at UC San diego."
and created a new strategy for drug design--one that we expect many other researchers will immediately begin implementing in the development of drugs that target similar proteins, for the treatment of a variety of diseases."
leading to quick-growing tumors. In order to work, transcription factors must buddy up, with two binding to each other and to DNA at same time.
They then tested the molecules for their ability to kill glioblastoma tumors in the Moores Cancer Center lab of the study's senior author
The most effective of these candidate drug molecules, called SKOG102, shrank human glioblastoma tumors grown in mouse models by an average of 50 percent."
"While the initial preclinical findings are cautioned promising, "Kesari, "it will be several years before a potential glioblastoma therapy can be tested in humans.
SKOG102 must first undergo detailed pharmacodynamic, biophysical and mechanistic studies in order to better understand its efficacy and possible toxicity."
"To this end, SKOG102 has been licensed to Curtana Pharmaceuticals, which is currently developing the inhibitor for clinical applications.
#World first lab-in-a-briefcase Academics at Loughborough University hope to boost early detection rates of cancer in developing countries with their portable lab-in-a-briefcase that can operate even at high temperatures.
Believed to be the first kit of its kind dedicated to the portable measurement of cancer biomarkers,
The number of people dying from cancer in developing countries is on the increase, partly due to steadily ageing populations
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for over 8 million deaths per year,
and 70%of the world's cancer deaths occur in Africa, Asia and Central and South america.
The number of new cancer cases is expected to rise by 70%over the next two decades 1. With the help of his Research Associate Ana Isabel Barbosa,
A new affordable and disposable microfluidic test strip--comprising of tiny tubes about the size of a human hair--is used specifically for the quick measurement of different types of cancer biomarkers in a whole blood sample.
has already been used successfully by Dr Reis in a separate study that detected prostate cancer with the help of a smartphone camera.
and this is what makes it a truly life-changing concept for the screening and monitoring of different types of cancer."
boosting levels of cancer detection in developing countries where ordinarily people would not have such easy access to early diagnostics.
I envisage that our lab-in-a-briefcase could also be developed further in the future to allow for rapid testing of infectious diseases and allergens."
Although the study focused on rapid detection for prostate cancer, Dr Reis said the microfluidic test strip is versatile enough to measure several cancer biomarkers simultaneously from one whole blood sample. 1 World health organization World Cancer Report 201 1
#Detecting diabetes in a saliva sample with a smart phone With the participation of Mexican and international experts,
the device will present immediate results and will be used for diagnosis within low-income populations. A device that detects in saliva a biological indicator of a possible risk of TYPE II DIABETES is the development of a technological and scientific team of the Tec de Monterrey (Mexican University) in collaboration with the University of Houston.
What makes this development unique is that it is adaptable to the cell phone and gives results in a few seconds,
if the patient has diabetes.""It's as simple as pregnancy tests, where the specific marker shows in a few seconds,"explains project coordinator Dr. Marco Antonio Rite Palomares, director of the Biotechnology Center of the Tec de Monterrey FEMSA.
we also want to bring health care to the low-income population, helping to make and early detection before it can lead to more problems
Such sensors could also be used to monitor the effectiveness of stem cell therapies Jasanoff says."
"As stem cell therapies are developed, it's going to be necessary to have noninvasive tools that enable you to measure them,
and at least one relative, is believed also to play a role in cell division and cancer. Arrayin collaboration with Dutch colleagues, the authors now show how important VRAC is, particularly in cancer.
They investigated cell lines to determine the role played by VRAC and its subunits in the transport of cisplatin and carboplatin into the cell.
From the researchers'point of view, this goes some way into explaining why some people are resistant to some forms of cancer therapy.
Researchers led by Sven Rottenberg of the Cancer Research Centre in Amsterdam also identified LRRC8D as a relevant gene in a genome-wide screen for cellular cytostatic resistance.
They studied the genetic data of ovarian cancer patients, who had been treated with cisplatin or carboplatin, with regard to their survival time.
Arrayso, does the absence of the VRAC protein promote therapy resistances?""The data suggest that LRRC8A
By switching off LRRC8D, it will now be possible to specifically investigate physiological and pathological roles of taurine release by VRAC.
#Researchers develop 3-D printing method for creating patient-specific medical devices A team of researchers at Northeastern University has developed an innovative 3-D printing technology that uses magnetic fields to shape composite materials
The biomedical devices they are developing will be both stronger and lighter than current models and,
which means they cannot accommodate the needs of all premature babies.""With neonatal care, each baby is a different size,
such as customized miniature biomedical devices. Within a single patient-specific device, the corners, the curves,
"Another of our goals is to use calcium phosphate fibers and biocompatible plastics to design surgical implants."
#DNA in blood can track cancer development, response in real time Scientists have shown for the first time that tumour DNA shed into the bloodstream can be used to track cancers in real time as they evolve
and respond to treatment, according to a new Cancer Research UK study published in the journal Nature Communications.
Over three years, researchers at the University of Cambridge took surgical tumour samples (biopsies) and blood samples from a patient with breast cancer that had already spread to other parts of her body.
They carefully studied small fragments of DNA from dying tumour cells that are shed into the blood
comparing them with DNA from the biopsy that was taken at the same point in time. The results show that the DNA in the blood samples matched up with that from the biopsies,
reflecting the same pattern and timing of genetic changes appearing as the cancer developed and responded to treatment.
The results provide the first proof-of-principle that analysing tumour DNA in the blood can accurately monitor cancer within the body.
Study author Professor Carlos Caldas, senior group leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, said:"
"This definitively shows that we can use blood-based DNA tests to track the progress of cancer in real time.
The findings could change the way we monitor patients, and may be especially important for people with cancers that are difficult to reach,
as taking a biopsy can sometimes be quite an invasive procedure.""The patient in the study had had breast cancer that already spread to a number of other organs.
The researchers--part of a collaborative team effort involving the Carlos Caldas and Nitzan Rozenfeld laboratories at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute--were even able to distinguish between the different secondary cancers
and examine how each of the tumours was responding to treatment. Professor Caldas added:""We were able to use the blood tests to map out the disease as it progressed.
We now need to see if this works in more patients and other cancer types,
but this is an exciting first step.""Dr Kat Arney, science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said:"
"Spotting tumour DNA in the bloodstream is a really promising area of research, and has the potential to give doctors valuable clues about a patient's disease without having to take repeated tumour samples."
"For now, surgical biopsies still play an important role in diagnosing and monitoring cancers. But this work gives us a window into the future,
where we'll use less invasive techniques to track the disease in real time
#Sound waves levitate cells to detect stiffness changes that could signal disease Utah Valley University physicists are literally applying rocket science to the field of medical diagnostics.
With a few key changes, the researchers used a noninvasive ultrasonic technique originally developed to detect microscopic flaws in solid fuel rockets, such as space shuttle boosters,
to successfully detect cell stiffness changes associated with certain cancers and other diseases. Brian Patchett, a research assistant and instructor within the Department of physics at Utah Valley University, will describe the group's method,
which uses sound waves to manipulate and probe cells, during the Acoustical Society of America's Fall 2015 Meeting, held Nov 2-6, in Jacksonville, Fla.
The method combines a low-frequency ultrasonic wave to levitate the cells and confine them to a single layer within a fluid and a high-frequency ultrasonic wave to measure the cell's stiffness."
and how they change during the process of cancer and disease development.""The stiffness of the cell is the primary change detected with our high-frequency ultrasound;
and how it changes in certain diseases, "Patchett said. The group's method can also help distinguish between different types of cancer--such as aggressive breast cancer vs. less aggressive forms."
"By isolating the cells in a monolayer of fluid via acoustic levitation, we're providing a better method for the detection of cell stiffness,
"This method can be used to explore the aspect of cells that changes during Alzheimer's disease, the metastasis of cancer,
As far as other applications, the group's method may find use in clinics, hospitals,
and surgical centers as a way to immediately detect and characterize cancer or other diseases."
"Our method identifies aggressive types of breast cancer, for example, while in the operating room,"Patchett noted.""Faster than current pathology methods, it will enable doctors to ensure speedier assessments
and more effective treatment plans for patients--personalized to their specific needs, which, in turn, will end up being more cost effective in the long term."
which is part of the immune response to an illness.""We're collaborating with the Huntsman Cancer Institute--part of the University of Utah healthcare system--to explore various types of breast tissues under levitation to refine our pathology detection methods,
"Patchett said.""Our goal is to provide potentially lifesaving, personalized medical treatments based on our ability to quickly and effectively detect cancers and diseases in patients
#Preventing dental implant infections One million dental implants are inserted every year in Germany, and often they need to be replaced due to issues such as tissue infections caused by bacteria.
In the future, these infections will be prevented thanks to a new plasma implant coating that kills pathogens using silver ions.
Bacterial infection of a dental implant is dreaded a complication, as it carries with it a high risk of jawbone degeneration.
Implanting an artificial dental root sets off a race between infectious pathogens and the body's own cellular defenses.
If the bacteria win they form a biological film over the titanium to protect themselves from antibiotics.
Once the implant is colonized by germs, the result is an inflammatory reaction, which can result in bone atrophy.
To lower the risk of infection and improve the long-term effectiveness of the implant, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Bremen have developed a new type of implant coating in cooperation with industry partners.
The Dentaplas coating helps prevent the growth of bacteria, thus allowing the implant to properly take hold
and thereby form a faster and more permanent bond with the jawbone. The trick to this lies in combining surface materials that feature physical as well as chemical properties."
"We have given the Dentaplas coating a rough texture, which promotes cellular growth, in addition to combining it with a hydrophilic plasma polymer coating,
which attracts moisture, "says Dr. Ingo Grunwald, project manager at the IFAM. Researchers have integrated silver nanoparticles into the thin plasma polymer coating,
which is up to just 100 nanometers thick. The silver nanoparticles dissolve over a period of several weeks,
which can be exposed toxic when,"says developer Dr. Dirk Salz. Researchers can tailor the silver concentration as well as the thickness of the layers and their porosity.
This allows the silver ions to penetrate the outermost plasma polymer layer over a set period of time deemed necessary to properly integrate the implant.
thus avoiding any long-term toxic effects. In trials using finished implants and titanium test samples
the IFAM researchers demonstrated that the Dentaplas coating is not only antimicrobial but also fully biocompatible and sterilizable.
Here, they subjected the Dentaplas coated implants to the rigors of being screwed into place using the instruments found in modern dental practices.
The medical technology company is also the manufacturer of the Dentaplas three-layer coating system.
Heparin is used widely as an anticoagulant in cardiovascular surgery as well as in postoperative and long-term therapy.
such as unusual bleeding and blood in the urine. Purity is also an important issue. It is not unheard of for the contaminant oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS) to slip into the heparin supply chain.
This same type of approach potentially also could be used to make other currently plant-based medicines for fighting cancer
infectious diseases and chronic illnesses. A similar"synthetic biology"technique is used already to make artemisenin, a key malaria-drug ingredient that was derived previously from trees (see Reuters story of August 12, 2014, http://reut. rs/1j2ovkj).
The scientists said they altered the yeast's genetic make-up in a way that coaxed the cells to convert sugar into two opioids-hydrocodone and thebaine-in three to five days."
it may provide an alternative supply for these essential medicines and allow greater access for most of the global population that currently has insufficient access to pain medication,
Waterborne diseases, such as typhoid or diarrhoeal illnesses, kill 1. 5 million people a year globally.
when disinfection has been achieved satisfactorily and when it has not. n any case, Dankovich now hopes to increase production of the book. f things keep going well,
the researchers found that gaps caused by brain injury can be bridged. The findings raise hopes that a euro prostheticthat automatically enhances flagging memory could aid not only brain-injured soldiers,
both groups are studying people with epilepsy who already have implanted electrodes. The researchers can use these electrodes both to record brain activity
Although the ultimate goal is to treat traumatic brain injury these people might benefit as well, says biological engineer Theodore Berger at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los angeles. That is
researchers asked 12 people with epilepsy to look at pictures and then recall up to 90 seconds later which ones they had seen.
) USC biomedical engineer Dong Song, a member of the team, says that the group has tried the stimulation on a woman with epilepsy,
or whether they are under stress. The team has found again by working with people with epilepsy, that stimulating a region called the medial temporal lobe,
which houses the hippocampus, improves memory that is functioning poorly. But when memory is functioning well,
it may be worth developing therapies based on it even if it is not fully understoods long as it can be proved to be safe and effective t
#This Robotic Hand Wired to a Brain Implant Restored a Paralyzed Man Sense of touch In the last few years,
a paralyzed 28-year-old man reported a ear-naturalsense of touch from a sensor-laden robotic hand wired to a brain implant.
In the case of paralysis, however, robotic arms wired directly to the brain via an implant have been primarily one-way devicesllowing action but not yielding sensory information.
This is why the Darpa announcement is so exciting. Robotic thought-controlled prosthetic limbs for amputees are controlled by the brain indirectly using healthy nerves and muscles in the stump.
however, the only way to link up to a robotic arm is directly through the brain by way of an implant.
The implant was wired then to a robotic hand built by the Applied Physics laboratory at Johns Hopkins. Using advanced pressure sensors,
the hand converts physical sensations into electrical signals that are communicated to the brain through the brain implant.
The volunteer, who was paralyzed by a spinal cord injury ten years ago, was not only able to control the hand,
invasive surgery and wired brain implants are not an ideal solution. And limited to pressure,
And advances in brain-machine interfaces should make implants less invasive. For now, however, it one step at a time.
such as a free mobile app where users help find data patterns in cancer research by playing games.
#Designed by a 16-year-old, these headphones are meant to save your hearing Wee going deaf using headphones.
or youl go deaf! his father, Rayman, would shout, trying to be heard over the racket.
he realized the danger of hearing loss by listening to music too loudly isn just something parents say
According to data by the World health organization and the American Academy of Audiology the recommended listening level is 85db for a maximum of eight hours at a time.
The same data says that 12 percent of children aged 6-19 suffer from hearing loss caused by bad headphone use.
Along with serial entrepreneur Anthony Lye, the startup they co-founded, Aegis Acoustics, is on a mission to prevent further hearing loss among kids who love consuming their music with headphones.
#New Incisionless Surgery to Treat Enlarged Prostate By age 60, more than 50 percent of men in the United states suffer from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a condition that leads to annoying changes
While medical therapy is usually the first line of treatment, a new minimally invasive implant can dramatically reduce symptoms for men. his is a safe procedure for men with BPH to improve urination
while preserving sexual function, said Mike Hsieh, MD, urologist at UC San diego Health System. his endoscopic procedure is done on an outpatient basis under light sedation with virtually no side effects.
The prostate is sized a walnut gland that sits below the bladder. When the prostate becomes enlarged
said Hsieh. his is an excellent alternative to traditional surgeries that require removal of prostate tissue,
The implant is comprised of a series of tiny permanent sutures that lift the enlarged prostate open
The implants are delivered through a hollow needle and into the prostate. No urinary catheter is needed post-procedure.
UC San diego Health System showcased this new procedure in a live-surgery during the 8th annual UC San diego School of medicine urology postgraduate course.
including low testosterone, erectile dysfunction and Peyronie disease. He is recognized also a expert in treating male infertility,
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