Tech
MINNEAPOLIS - Some people who feel dizzy or lightheaded when they stand up may have an increased risk of developing dementia years later, according to a new study published in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The condition, called orthostatic hypotension, occurs when people experience a sudden drop in blood pressure when they stand up.
The study found the link with dementia only in people who have a drop in their systolic blood pressure, not in people with only a drop in their diastolic blood pressure or their blood pressure overall.
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- A new study from Oregon State University found that 77% of low- to moderate-income American households fall below the asset poverty threshold, meaning that if their income were cut off they would not have the financial assets to maintain at least poverty-level status for three months.
The study compared asset poverty rates in the U.S. and Canada. Canada's asset poverty rate has improved over the past 20 years while the U.S. rate has worsened, but still, 62% of low- to moderate-income Canadians also fall below the asset poverty threshold.
DALLAS, Aug. 7, 2020 -- The time has come for routine health care visits to include some form of dietary assessment and counseling, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association published today in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal. The statement, written by a group of nutrition and cardiovascular disease experts, recommends the adoption of a rapid diet screening tool that can be integrated into electronic health record platforms across all health care settings.
Transitioning our energy supply from coal, oil and gas to wind and solar power is feasible. However, renewables require more land than conventional forms of energy generation. A new study explores the options to reduce the land requirements of a fully renewable energy supply in Europe and their possible impact on the cost of electricity.
A large-scale analysis of the clinical characteristics of Alport syndrome in Japanese patients has revealed that the effectiveness of existing treatment with ACE inhibitors and/or angiotensin receptor blockers (RAS inhibitors) (*1) varies depending on the type of mutation in the syndrome's causal gene (COL4A5). RAS inhibitors are widely administered to patients with chronic kidney diseases as they are known to preserve kidney functions, and they are also effective against Alport Syndrome.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare--albeit deadly--disease that affects the arteries of the lung. In PAH, abnormal growth of cells of the vascular media--or the elastic wall--of the pulmonary arteries, called pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs), results in thickening of the walls. This leads to the narrowing and/or obstruction of small pulmonary arteries, thus causing increased pulmonary vascular resistance and arterial pressure--ultimately leading to right heart failure.
Engineers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and their colleagues at Stanford School of Medicine have demonstrated that drug levels inside the body can be tracked in real time using a custom smartwatch that analyzes the chemicals found in sweat. This wearable technology could be incorporated into a more personalized approach to medicine -- where an ideal drug and dosages can be tailored to an individual.
A study detailing the research was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
By formulating positively charged fluorescent dyes into a new class of materials called small-molecule ionic isolation lattices (SMILES), a compound's brilliant glow can be seamlessly transferred to a solid, crystalline state, researchers report August 6 in the journal Chem. The advance overcomes a long-standing barrier to developing fluorescent solids, resulting in the brightest known materials in existence.
In findings published Aug. 6 in the journal Current Biology, researchers from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of Rennes in France have unveiled a stunning 99-million-year-old fossil pristinely preserving an enigmatic insect predator from the Cretaceous Period -- a 'hell ant' (haidomyrmecine) -- as it embraced its unsuspecting final victim, an extinct relative of the cockroach known as Caputoraptor elegans.
The hippocampus is a region within the brain that contains many neurons that help us to navigate in space. This leads to the nickname of this area: the GPS of the brain. The higher areas of the cortex send information packages to the hippocampus to generate location signals. However, not all packages contain relevant information. Therefore, the hippocampus needs to have a bouncer in place to select incoming signals. Such a gatekeeper could be the granule cell, a type of neuron situated at the entrance of the hippocampal circuit.
Identifying the correct cells
PULLMAN, Wash. - A rare, transmissible tumor has brought the iconic Tasmanian devil to the brink of extinction, but new research by scientists at Washington State University and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle indicates hope for the animals' survival and possibly new treatment for human cancers.
The study, published in Genetics on Aug. 1, found a single genetic mutation that leads to reduced growth of a transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils in the wild.
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a synthetic peptide that can make multidrug-resistant bacteria sensitive to antibiotics again when used together with traditional antibiotics, offering hope for the prospect of a combination treatment strategy to tackle certain antibiotic-tolerant infections.
On its own, the synthetic antimicrobial peptide can also kill bacteria that have grown resistant to antibiotics.
In the fight against climate change, scientists have searched for ways to replace fossil fuels with carbon-free alternatives such as hydrogen fuel.
A device known as a photoelectrical chemical cell (PEC) has the potential to produce hydrogen fuel through artificial photosynthesis, an emerging renewable energy technology that uses energy from sunlight to drive chemical reactions such as splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.
A world first clinical study of the gut microbiome in people with Huntington's disease (HD) has found that it is not just a disease of the brain, but also of the body.
The study, led by Monash University's Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, with collaboration from the Florey Institute for Neurosciences found evidence of gut dysbiosis (altered bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract) in people with HD, with some of the gut measures associated with disease symptoms, such as impaired movements and thinking.
Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a promising alternative method for cancer treatment due to advantages of non-invasiveness, precise temporal and spatial control, strong specificity and high tumor destruction efficiency.
At present, the clinical evaluation of cancer treatment mainly relies on cytology, histopathology and imaging. Meanwhile, tumor therapy and its therapeutic efficiency evaluation are conducted separately.