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Archive for the ‘health’ category: Page 5

Feb 25, 2024

The Last Piece of Our Genome: Sequencing the Y Chromosome

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, health

Groundbreaking research led by a global group of over 100 researchers will enable a more in-depth exploration of human genetic variation as fully sequencing the Y chromosome, a feat that has challenged scientists for years, has been accomplished for the first time. In this interview, we speak to Dylan Taylor about this impactful research and how it may shape our understanding of human genetics.

Please could you introduce yourself and your current research activities?

I am Dylan Taylor, a Ph.D. candidate and NIH F31 fellow in the Department of Biology at Johns Hopkins University. My work with the T2T consortium focuses on exploring how a complete reference genome can improve our ability to study human genetic variation and how it impacts human traits and health.

Feb 24, 2024

Measles is a ‘heat-seeking missile’ experts warn as Florida outbreak grows

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

The Florida measles outbreak is expanding. On Friday, health officials in Broward County confirmed a seventh case of the virus, a child under age 5.

The patient is the youngest so far to be infected in the outbreak, and the first to be identified outside of Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston, near Fort Lauderdale.

It’s unknown what connection the youngest measles case has to the school, but the spread beyond school-age kids was expected.

Feb 24, 2024

Pharmacies nationwide face delays as health-care tech company reports cyberattack

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, health

A leading health-care technology company is experiencing a network outage due to a “cyber security issue,” pausing prescription services at pharmacies nationwide.

Feb 24, 2024

Next Generation Neural Interfaces: Research on Emerging Technologies at Imperial College London

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

The era of bioelectronic healthcare is dawning upon us. As electronic systems shrink in size and improve in functionality, we see more and more emerging devices that can track vital signs, such as heart rate and blood pressure, realising the grand vision of highly connected sensor nodes monitoring patients’ health beyond the hospital doors. The real revolution in digital healthcare, however, lies in bringing not only the diagnostics but also the therapy to the patient which requires interfacing the world of electronics with biology.

Interfacing the nervous system provides an immense opportunity to observe (through recording) and modify (through stimulation) the functional state of the biological system to fundamentally understand various diseases and health conditions, and to ultimately develop suitable therapies through closed-loop systems [1]. Consequently, a host of neural interface modalities, with varying levels of invasiveness, have been developed over the past decades. Among all, interfacing at the individual neuron level allows the highest level of information transfer from the brain.

Despite the success of devices such as Cochlear Implants, interfacing at the individual neuron level is still severely limited due to challenges such as selectivity (for stimulation) and thermal-limitations imposed on data transmission to prevent neural tissue damage. The latter is a major bottleneck in improving information transfer rate of neural recording systems as they scale up. Hence, there is currently a tremendous drive to develop new enabling technologies for neuroscience to provide insightful views on how motor or sensory information is represented and transformed by the brain, as well as revealing how this complex system is affected by neurological injuries and disease.

Feb 24, 2024

Researchers create more realistic synthetic human mini hearts

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, engineering, health

Thanks to advancements in the development of patented synthetic human-like hearts first created at Michigan State, researchers can study human heart development and congenital heart disease on highly accurate models. This is facilitating the development of new therapies and pharmaceutical drugs to treat a variety of heart-related diseases just in time for the observance of American Heart Month in February.

Similar in size and development to fetal human hearts, these mini heart organoids are becoming increasingly complex and realistic. The MSU research team that created the mini hearts first published their findings in 2020. They have quickly become a world leader in this field and their latest advancements have been published in Nature Communications and Stem Cell Reports.

Aitor Aguirre, associate professor of biomedical engineering and chief of the division of developmental and in MSU’s Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering, explained that the introduction of realistic models is essential to the discovery of effective and clinically translatable solutions to . An estimated 21 million annual deaths are related to this condition, including disorders of the heart and blood vessels. And that number is growing.

Feb 24, 2024

Vision impairment in older adults tied to symptoms of depression, anxiety and social isolation: JAMA

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

USA: A cross-sectional study comprising 2,822 US adults revealed that worse examination-based and self-reported vision impairment is associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms, and worse examination-based vision impairment is linked with severe social isolation.

These findings, published in JAMA Ophthalmology, provide evidence to support prioritizing research aimed at enhancing the health and inclusion of people with vision impairment.

Vision impairment and psychosocial function, including symptoms of anxiety, depression and social isolation, are a major cause of morbidity in the US. However, there is a lack of nationally representative studies evaluating associations between subjective and objective vision impairment with psychosocial function following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Feb 23, 2024

What You Can Do Now to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

Experts from Michigan Medicine answer questions about brain health and how to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Learn more about the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center at University of Michigan Health: https://alzheimers.med.umich.edu/

Continue reading “What You Can Do Now to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease” »

Feb 23, 2024

Air Pollution Crisis: Harvard Study Urges Stricter Standards to Protect Senior Heart Health

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

“The timing of our study couldn’t be more critical, and its implications are profound,” said Dr. Yaguang Wei.


What impact can severe air pollution have on the health of senior citizens? This is what a recent study published in BMJ hopes to address as a team of researchers led by Harvard University investigated how over-exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for senior citizens could lead to hospitalizations for seven major cardiovascular disease (CVD) subtypes, including heart failure, ischemic heart disease, arrhythmia, cerebrovascular disease, cardiomyopathy, abdominal aortic aneurysms, and thoracic aortic aneurysms. This study holds the potential to help scientists, medical professionals, and the public better understand the long-term health risks for severe air pollution, especially with climate change effects continuing to increase worldwide.

For the study, the researchers analyzed 59,761,494 Medicare fee-for-service recipients 65 years of age and older between 2000 and 2016 and compared them to air pollution data during that same period. Each of the recipients were tracked every year until their first hospitalization for one of the seven major CVD subtypes, and the researchers produced a map based on the recipients’ ZIP codes. In the end, the researchers discovered the average exposure time from air pollution to a recipients’ first hospitalization was three years, in addition to determining their exposure to PM2.5 was above the acceptable threshold outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Continue reading “Air Pollution Crisis: Harvard Study Urges Stricter Standards to Protect Senior Heart Health” »

Feb 23, 2024

NASA will pay 4 health-conscious ‘astronaut-like’ people to live inside a Mars simulation for 378 days. See if you qualify

Posted by in categories: health, space

NASA opened applications for people to live a paid year in its CHAPEA Mars simulation. The job requires an agreeable personality and STEM degree.

Feb 22, 2024

Aqueous Metal-Ion Batteries: The Future of Safe and Sustainable Energy Storage

Posted by in categories: energy, health, sustainability

How can water-based batteries help improve lithium-ion energy storage and technology? This is what a series of studies published in Advanced Materials, Small Structures, Energy Storage Materials, and Energy & Environmental Science hopes to address as a team of international researchers led by Liaoning University in China have developed recyclable, aqueous-based batteries that won’t succumb to combustion or explosion. This study holds the potential to help researchers develop safer and more efficient water-based energy storage technologies for a cleaner future.

While lithium-ion batteries have proven reliable, they pose safety risks due to the organic electrolytes responsible for creating the electrical charge, which can lead to them catching fire or exploding, limiting their development for large-scale usage. To solve this problem, the researchers used water for driving the electric current between the battery’s terminals, nearly eliminating the chance for a safety hazard.

“Addressing end-of-life disposal challenges that consumers, industry and governments globally face with current energy storage technology, our batteries can be safely disassembled, and the materials can be reused or recycled,” said Dr. Tianyi Ma, who is a team member and a professor in the STEM | School of Science at RMIT University. “We use materials such as magnesium and zinc that are abundant in nature, inexpensive and less toxic than alternatives used in other kinds of batteries, which helps to lower manufacturing costs and reduces risks to human health and the environment.”

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