Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Get the latest international news and world events from around the world.

Log in for authorized contributors

Abstract: Molecular mechanisms regulating diabetic retinopathy

Vision loss from microvascular complication in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) results in diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Recent evidence suggests that neurodegeneration occurs in parallel with or prior to vascular cell injury in the retina of patients with DM and thus DR is considered as a neurovascular disease.

The researchers in this review discuss how molecular stress (i.e., glucose dysregulation, dysmetabolism, oxidative stress, and inflammation) promote retinal vascular cell and neuronal injury in patients with DM.

The researchers also discuss how genes regulated by the HIF family of transcription factors in glial, vascular, neuronal, and inflammatory cells, control various pathways and identify new therapeutic avenues for the prevention or early treatment of patients with this vision-threating disease. sciencenewshighlights Science Mission https://sciencemission.com/diabetic-retina

Address correspondence to: Akrit Sodhi, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 400 N. Broadway St., Smith Building, 4,039, Baltimore, Maryland 21,287, USA. Email: [email protected].

Find articles by Guo, C. in: | Google Scholar |

Continue reading “Abstract: Molecular mechanisms regulating diabetic retinopathy” | >

Introduction: The Parkinson’s pandemic: prioritizing environmental policy and biological resilience

Via the gut.

Bianca Palushaj & Robin M Voigt puts forward a strategy for altering the trajectory of this modern epidemic.

1Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.

2Rush Center for Integrated Microbiome and Chronobiology Research.

3Department of Internal Medicine, and.

4Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Continue reading “Introduction: The Parkinson’s pandemic: prioritizing environmental policy and biological resilience” | >

Mysteries of Math and the Langlands Program — Episode 1

The first in a series of 4 lectures by Edward Frenkel filmed at MSRI, Berkeley and broadcast on the Japanese TV channel NHK in the Fall of 2015 in the “Luminous Classroom” series. The lectures went from elementary topics such as Pythagoras theorem, prime numbers and symmetries to Fermat’s last theorem and the general Langlands conjectures, and to the recent work connecting the Langlands Program to Quantum Physics. Even though the Intro is in Japanese, the lecture itself is in English.

Ctenophore research points to earlier origins of brain-like structures

New 3D reconstructions of a key sensory organ in ctenophores reveal an unexpected structural and functional complexity. The findings suggest that an elementary brain may have already appeared in our most ancient relatives, reshaping our understanding of nervous system evolution in animals. The work is published in Science Advances.

Ctenophores (comb jellies) are gelatinous animals that appeared in the ocean an estimated 550 million years ago. The delicate animals possess a specialized sensory structure called the aboral organ (AO), which allows them to sense gravity, pressure, and light. The new morphological study reveals that this organ is far more complex than previously thought.

“We show that the AO is a complex and functionally unique sensory system,” said Pawel Burkhardt, group leader at the Michael SARS Centre, University of Bergen. “Our study profoundly enhances our understanding of the evolution of behavioral coordination in animals.”

Scientists put forward a new theory of brain development

Your brain begins as a single cell. When all is said and done, it will house an incredibly complex and powerful network of some 170 billion cells. How does it organize itself along the way? Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory neuroscientists have come up with a surprisingly simple answer that could have far-reaching implications for biology and artificial intelligence.

Stan Kerstjens, a postdoc in Professor Anthony Zador’s lab, frames the question in terms of positional information. “The only thing a cell ‘sees’ is itself and its neighbors,” he explains. “But its fate depends on where it sits. A cell in the wrong place becomes the wrong thing, and the brain doesn’t develop right. So, every cell must solve two questions: Where am I? And who do I need to become?”

In a study published in Neuron, Kerstjens, Zador, and colleagues at Harvard University and ETH Zürich put forward a new theory for how the brain organizes itself during development.

Full dimensional control of structured microwaves based on microcombs

Using a chip-based microcomb, full dimensional control of structured microwaves is demonstrated, including vortex-microwave generation, submicrosecond spatiotemporal mode switching, broadband phase–frequency response tuning and wide-angle two-dimensional beam steering. These capabilities are applied in a structured-microwave-based integrated sensing and communication system.

One-of-a-kind microscope reveals living cells in unprecedented detail

Stanford researchers have combined two microscopy techniques to create a one-of-a-kind instrument that can show cell structures interacting in real time at an unprecedented 120-nanometer resolution—the highest achieved without the use of fluorescent labels. This new “label-free” technology, called Interferometric Image Scanning Microscopy, or iISM, will allow scientists to observe cellular structures in their wider context, including their responses to intrusions, such as pathogens or drugs.

The advance is detailed in Light: Science and Applications. “This new microscope provides a fantastic new view into the cell, where you can see the tiny structures and machines in the cell moving, changing, and interacting without having to add fluorescence to observe them,” said senior author W.E. Moerner, the Harry S. Mosher Professor of Chemistry in Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences.

“It’s a wonderful look into these complex little cellular boxes that drive our life.”

/* */