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Category: biotech/medical – Page 574

Quantum Breakthrough Allows Researchers To Create “Previously Unimaginable Nanocrystals”

The type of semiconductive nanocrystals known as quantum dots is not only expanding the forefront of pure science but also playing a crucial role in practical applications, including lasers, quantum QLED televisions and displays, solar cells, medical devices, and other electronics.

A new technique for growing these microscopic crystals, recently published in Science, has not only found a new, more efficient way to build a useful type of quantum dot, but also opened up a whole group of novel chemical materials for future researchers’ exploration.

“I am excited to see how researchers across the globe can harness this technique to prepare previously unimaginable nanocrystals,” said first author Justin Ondry, a former postdoctoral researcher in UChicago’s Talapin Lab.

Astronauts found to process some tasks slower in space, but no signs of permanent cognitive decline

In space, astronauts are exposed to extreme stressors our bodies don’t experience on Earth. Microgravity, higher radiation, and a high workload can impact cognitive performance. To find out which cognitive domains are affected by spaceflight, researchers analyzed data from 25 professional astronauts. They found that while on the ISS, astronauts took longer to perform tasks concerned with processing speed, working memory, and attention, but that a six-month stay in space did not result in lasting cognitive impairment once crews returned to Earth.

A stay in space exerts extreme pressures on the human body. Astronauts’ bodies and brains are impacted by radiation, altered gravity, challenging working conditions, and sleep loss – all of which could compromise cognitive functioning. At the same time, they are required to perform complex tasks, and minor mistakes can have devastating consequences.

Little is known, however, about whether astronauts’ cognitive performance changes while in space. Now, working with 25 astronauts who spent an average of six month on the International Space Station (ISS), researchers in the US have examined changes in a wide range of cognitive performance domains. This dataset makes up the largest sample of cognitive performance data from professional astronauts published to date.

Researchers reveal how aging impairs antitumor activity of CD8⁺ T cells

A research team from the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health (SINH) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed that aging specifically impairs the generation of CD8+ tissue resident memory T cells (TRM) and thus compromises the antitumor defensive activity of aged CD8+ T cells. The study is published in Nature Aging.

With the , the risk of developing cancer significantly increases. In recent years, it has been reported that immune aging has an important impact on tumor development. Immune aging is a degenerative change in the immune system that occurs with aging, leading to a decline in and ultimately triggering diseases including tumors.

Within the immune system, CD8+ T cells are the main defensive adaptive immune cells protecting against . However, the mechanism by which aging impairs the antitumor response of CD8+ T cells was not previously understood.

First new treatment for asthma attacks in 50 years

An injection given during some asthma and COPD attacks is more effective than the current treatment of steroid tablets, reducing the need for further treatment by 30%. The findings, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, could be “game-changing” for millions of people with asthma and COPD around the world, scientists say.

Asthma attacks and COPD flare-ups (also called exacerbations) can be deadly. Every day in the UK four people with asthma and 85 people with COPD will tragically die. Both conditions are also very common. In the UK, someone has an every 10 seconds. Asthma and COPD cost the NHS £5.9B a year.

The type of symptom flare-up the injection treats are called “eosinophilic exacerbations” and involve symptoms such as wheezing, coughing and chest tightness due to inflammation resulting from high amounts of eosinophils (a type of white blood cell). Eosinophilic exacerbations make up to 30% of COPD flare-ups and almost 50% of asthma attacks. They can become more frequent as the disease progresses, leading to irreversible lung damage in some cases.

Small Molecule Found to Weaken Immune Cells in Lung Cancer

To maintain a healthy immune system, doctors advise patients to take vitamins and minerals. Vitamins have many functions that benefit the body, including resisting infection, energy boost, aiding in blood clotting, improving brain function, generation of red blood cells, promoting a healthy gut microbiome, improving wound healing, preventing eye deterioration, and developing strong bones. We can get vitamins from various sources, including orange juice, which is rich in vitamin C, folate, and potassium. Physicians often recommend supplements for patients low on specific vitamins. However, dysregulation of vitamins can weaken the immune system and promote overall bad health. One vitamin in particular that helps maintain cellular function includes B12. This vitamin is essential to generate DNA and red blood cells, and aids in nerve function, energy conversion, and protein metabolism. When a patient has a B12 deficiency it can result in muscle weakness, numbness in hands and feet, difficulty walking, nausea, loss of appetite, and unintentional weight loss. In addition, it can allow the buildup of a small molecule known as methylmalonic acid (MMA).

In healthy tissues, vitamin B12 helps break down MMA. In B12 deficient patients, MMA is increased and can be measured through blood or urine samples. Methylmalonic acid is produced when proteins in your muscle, known as amino acids, are broken down. Tests to determine B12 deficiency or a genetic disorder are done by physicians at birth and after the appearance of symptoms related to B12 deficiency. Interestingly, a group of scientists have discovered a new deleterious role of MMA in lung carcinoma.

A recent publication from Oncogene, by Dr. Ana P. Gomes and others, demonstrated that MMA in aged patients weakens immune cell function and promotes lung cancer progression. Gomes is a professor of molecular oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida. Her work specifically focuses on understanding metabolic changes as we age and how this change in metabolism influences cancer risk.

US scientists may have developed the first robot syllabus that allows machines to transfer skills without human intervention

Whether it’s our phones, cars, televisions, medical devices or even washing machines, we now have computers everywhere.

Using bigger computers, we solve bigger problems like managing the operation of a power grid, designing an aircraft, predicting the weather or providing different types of artificial intelligence (AI).

But all these machines work by manipulating data in the form of ones and zeros (bits) using classical techniques that have not changed since the abacus was invented in antiquity.

Scientists can tweak gene to reduce brain aging and extend lifespans by ‘30%’

In case you thought science was going to take a day off, researchers have just figured out a way of reversing brain aging – in fruit flies, but still.

They previously did something similar in lab mice, claiming to “reverse and repair” damage done by Alzheimer’s disease. The brain is a fascinating thing: it behaves weirdly after midnight, performs a magical reset while sleeping to “save memories,” and automatically corrects spelling errors even when you don’t see them yourself. Whatever next, health experts?!

When a common type of protein builds up in the brain, it stops cells from getting rid of “unnecessary or dysfunctional components,” i.e., waste.

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