Friday 21 June 2019

Engineers 3-D print flexible mesh for ankle and knee braces

Hearing aids, dental crowns, and limb prosthetics are some of the medical devices that can now be digitally designed and customized for individual patients, thanks to 3-D printing. However, these devices are typically designed to replace or support bones and other rigid parts of the body, and are often printed from solid, relatively inflexible material.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers report the origin and immunoregulatory function of monocytes

Non-classical monocytes were long thought to play a purely surveillance role in the immune system. With the aid of a novel marker (PD-L1), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) researchers in Munich have now shown that they are directly involved in the regulation of immune response.

* This article was originally published here

Reforming pharmacy benefit manager practices may lead to drug cost savings

Efforts to control health care costs in the United States often focus on the listed prescription drug prices, but a perspective published by the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that unregulated pharmacy benefit manager practices also may contribute to escalating expenses.

* This article was originally published here

Shaken and stirred: Scientists capture the deformation effect of shock waves on a material

Understanding how shock waves affect structures is crucial for advancements in material science research, including safety protocols and novel surface modifications. Using X-ray diffraction probes, scientists at the Institute of Materials Structure Science of KEK, Tokyo of Tech, Kumamoto University, and University of Tsukuba studied the deformation of polycrystalline aluminum foil when subjected to a laser-driven shock wave.

* This article was originally published here

Detecting problems of the anti-bleeding system in 60 minutes

Various diseases can cause hemorrhages or thromboses, sometimes fatal, resulting in particular from complications during surgery. This may take the form of a dysfunction of the platelets (hemostasis), the blood cells that plug the holes in the damaged blood vessels. Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), the University of Franche-Comté (UFC) and the Etablissement français du Sang (Bourgogne Franche Comté), have developed a device called BlooDe to study the plugging capacity of platelets.

* This article was originally published here

Hydrogen-natural gas hydrates harvested by natural gas

A hydrogen-natural gas blend (HNGB) can be a game changer only if it can be stored safely and used as a sustainable clean energy resource. A recent study has suggested a new strategy for stably storing hydrogen, using natural gas as a stabilizer. The research proposed a practical gas phase modulator based synthesis of HNGB without generating chemical waste after dissociation for the immediate service.

* This article was originally published here

In nationwide first, UC Davis doctors can peek into your whole body with one scan by 3-D device

Starting this summer, physicians at UC Davis Health will be able to use a powerful new scanner that can render detailed, 3-D images of the inner workings of the entire human body in as little as one minute, the creators of the device announced recently.

* This article was originally published here

Eat like the locals: How scurvy undid last crusader king

He was the last of the crusader kings who was thought to have died of the plague as he made one last—rather roundabout—attempt to recover the Holy Land for the Christianity.

* This article was originally published here

Toward artificial intelligence that learns to write code

Learning to code involves recognizing how to structure a program, and how to fill in every last detail correctly. No wonder it can be so frustrating.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers find new mutation in the leptin gene

The global obesity epidemic is so far-reaching it now has an overarching name: globesity. Texas Biomed Staff Scientist Raul Bastarrachea, M.D., is part of a team that discovered a new mutation in the gene that regulates the key hormone suppressing hunger called leptin. This new mutation could help researchers understand why people develop excess of body fat. Dr. Bastarrachea's research is aimed at helping tackle metabolic disorders like cardiovascular disease and diabetes which are fueled by obesity and impact millions of people around the world.

* This article was originally published here

Scientists identify fire hazard areas in forests near Lake Baikal

Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University are developing a system for predicting the likelihood of forest fires. Using Gilbirinsky Forestry in the basin of Lake Baikal, they created a map of the territory and identified forest areas where the likelihood of fire emergency is the highest due to the vegetative conditions of the territory itself. This data will underpin a geographic information system (GIS) for predicting wildfires.

* This article was originally published here

Mystery of immunosuppressive drug's biosynthesis finally unlocked

Mycophenolic acid (MPA), discovered in 1893, was the first natural antibiotic to be isolated and crystallized in human history. Today, this fungal metabolite has been developed into multiple first-line immunosuppressive drugs to control immunologic rejection during organ transplantation and treat various autoimmune diseases.

* This article was originally published here

From one brain scan, more information for medical artificial intelligence

MIT researchers have devised a novel method to glean more information from images used to train machine-learning models, including those that can analyze medical scans to help diagnose and treat brain conditions.

* This article was originally published here

Ten times the Chernobyl television series lets artistic licence get in the way of facts

Audiences have been gripped by Chernobyl, the HBO/Sky series that charts the events and aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster of April 1986.

* This article was originally published here

Locking up kids damages their mental health and leads to more disadvantage. Is this what we want?

Reports this week of an Indigenous boy with a disability held naked for days in a Brisbane police cell have once again raised the issue of how best to treat our most vulnerable young offenders, and the impact of their incarceration.

* This article was originally published here

Interaction-induced topology in symmetry-broken phase

Symmetry is a fundamental characteristic in nature. Understanding the mechanisms that break symmetries is essential to scientific research. Spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB), in particular, occurs when thermal or quantum fluctuations drive a system from a symmetric state into an ordered state, as it occurs when a liquid turns into a solid. This mechanism allows researchers to classify different phases of matter according to the different patterns generated by the broken symmetry.

* This article was originally published here

Small satellite concept finalists target moon, Mars and beyond

NASA has selected three finalists among a dozen concepts for future small satellites. The finalists include a 2022 robotic mission to study two asteroid systems, twin spacecraft to study the effects of energetic particles around Mars, and a lunar orbiter managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to study water on the moon. At least one of these missions is expected to move to final selection and flight.

* This article was originally published here

How 5G could democratise the telecoms industry

A new, digital revolution might be about to hit us. Autonomous cars are driving our way, cities and companies are rapidly ramping up the use of sensors—also called the Internet of Things (IoT) – and virtual and augmented reality are making rapid strides.

* This article was originally published here

Americans still eat too much processed meat and too little fish

A new study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that the amount of processed meat consumed by Americans has remained unchanged in the past 18 years, nor has their intake of fish/shellfish increased. In addition, one quarter of US adults are still eating more unprocessed red meat than the recommended level, and less than 15 percent meet the guidelines for fish/shellfish consumption. On a positive note, Americans are eating less beef and more chicken than they did 18 years ago, and in fact, for the first time, consumption of poultry exceeds that of unprocessed red meat.

* This article was originally published here

Mother sperm whale and baby dead in fishing net off Italy

A mother sperm whale and its baby have died after becoming tangled in a fishing net in the Tyrrhenian Sea off Italy's western coast, an Italian environmental group reported Thursday.

* This article was originally published here