A biological switch that reliably turns protein expression on at will has been invented by University of Bath and Cardiff University scientists. The switch enables control of genome editing tools that might one day regulate cascades of desired genetic changes through entire populations. The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Researchers have developed a novel method to study the influence of surface nanotopography on human fibrinogen adsorption at a given surface chemistry. Well-ordered arrays of nanoholes with different diameters down to 45 nm and a depth of 50 nm were fabricated in silicon by electron beam lithography and reactive ion etching. The nanostructured chip was used as a model system to understand the effect of the size of the nanoholes on fibrinogen adsorption.
Fluorescence imaging, using the intrinsic fluorescence of proteins, was used to characterize the effect of the nanoholes on fibrinogen adsorption. Atomic force microscopy was used as a complementary technique for further characterization of the interaction. The results demonstrate that as the size of the nanoholes is reduced to 45 nm, fibrinogen adsorption is significantly increased.
Postoperative complications increase mortality and reduce the quality of life after surgery. Recently, numbers of elderly patients with severe comorbidity who are in need of a surgical service have increased, as well as the numbers of patients who are at risk of postoperative complications. Thus, health care systems should strive to reduce postoperative complications and mortality by improving postoperative care after elective surgery.
Researchers aimed to reveal the regulatory mechanism in alterations of human endothelial cells after simulated microgravity (SMG). Microgravity is known to cause endothelium dysfunction in astronauts returning from spaceflight.
Researchers have discovered that one of the building blocks in the calcium channels in the pancreatic beta cells play an important role in regulating our blood glucose values. Treatments aimed at this building block may be a new way to combat primarily type 2 diabetes the researchers suggest in an article in the scientific journal Cell Reports.
Skin inflammation and photosensitivity are common in patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), yet little is known about the mechanisms that regulate these traits. Here they investigate the role of interferon kappa (IFN-κ) in the regulation of type I interferon (IFN) and photosensitive responses and examine its dysregulation in lupus skin.
Imagine being so sensitive to the sun's rays that you're forced to either slather yourself in sunscreen or risk a rash so severe it could leave permanent scars. This is the unfortunate reality of many people with lupus. Up to 60% of patients with the autoimmune disease have some degree of sensitivity to ultraviolet light, a condition called photosensitivity.
It can result in skin inflammation or a flare-up of a wide-range of lupus symptoms, such as joint pain and fatigue. For some patients, even the light of a photocopier is enough to trigger the disease's characteristic angry red rash.
Although women who have a pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) are at heightened risk for also being infected with syphilis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), few adolescent females diagnosed with PID in the nation's pediatric emergency departments (ED) undergo laboratory tests for HIV or syphilis.
According to a new study, researchers examine short- and long-term depressive symptoms can predict the occurrence of cardiovascular events. In addition, short-term or baseline depressive symptoms increase the risk for cardiovascular events for up to 15 years, and chronic depressive symptoms for up to 10 years. The study was published in the Journal of Health Psychology, explored the prospective relationship between baseline and chronic depressive symptoms, and the development of cardiovascular disease over a 15-year period.
Researchers aimed to contrast age and female representation in the most influential randomized controlled trials in cardiology of the last 20 years to population prevalence and to assess the study factors affecting representation. Trying to determine how best to treat a patient, doctors often look to randomized clinical trials to guide their choice of what drug to prescribe.
One of the most common illnesses is heart disease, and in recent years it's been proven that, contrary to popular belief, more women have heart problems than men do; similarly, it's more common for older people to have a heart condition than younger people.
The study was published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, researchers continue to test new heart drugs mostly on men (71%), even though the majority of people affected by heart disease are women.
Regular cancer screenings can lower the chance of death from lung cancer. But they cannot reduce the risk of developing lung cancer for people who smoke. Patients seem to be confused about the actual benefits and limitations of lung cancer screenings, according to a study by the VA Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care in Seattle.
For Bonnie Duran, it felt like coming home. For two months in 1982, she lived at a Tibetan monastery in Nepal. As a mixed-race Native American, she’d long witnessed the suffering of her community, and what she learned there about Buddhism’s first noble truth—that suffering is pervasive—resonated with her deeply.
In a new paper, researchers from the Centers and Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) examine non-respiratory influenza infections, and how transmission of the virus through the eyes can lead to ocular disease.