Category Health/Medical

This Designer Clothing Lets Users turn on Electronics while Turning Away Bacteria

fabric innovation
Purdue waterproof, breathable and antibacterial self-powered clothing is based on omniphobic triboelectric nanogenerators. 

New rainproof, stainproof technology turns clothing into self-powered remotes. Purdue University researchers have developed a new fabric innovation that allows wearers to control electronic devices through clothing.

“It is the first time there is a technique capable to transform any existing cloth item or textile into a self-powered e-textile containing sensors, music players or simple illumination displays using simple embroidery without the need for expensive fabrication processes requiring complex steps or expensive equipment,” said Ramses Martinez, an assistant professor in the School of Industrial Engineering and in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engine...

Read More

Why Intense Light can Protect Cardiovascular Health

Figure thumbnail fx1
Highlights
•Intense light-mediated cardioprotection requires endothelial-specific PER2
•Intense light-elicited PER2 transcriptionally reprograms the endothelium
•Endothelial PER2 regulates respiration and barrier function during hypoxia
•Studies of humans reveal intense light activates PER2-dependent metabolism

The light boosts a critical gene that strengthens blood vessels. Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that intense light amplifies a specific gene that bolsters blood vessels and offers protection against heart attacks.

“We already knew that intense light can protect against heart attacks, but now we have found the mechanism behind it,” said the study’s senior author Tobias Eckle, MD, PhD, professor of anesthesiology at the University...

Read More

Nanosecond Pulsed Electric fields activate Immune cells

figure3
Analysis of extracellular DNA by agarose gel electrophoresis. (A) Schematic representation of MNase treatment for liberation of extruded DNA from cells. MNase digests extracellular chromosomal DNA at its linker regions among nucleosomes, leading to the liberation of extracellular chromosomal DNA from their originating cells. Liberated DNA was separated from cells by brief centrifugation and in turn subjected to either DNA purification followed by agarose gel electrophoresis (B) or direct fluorometric measurement with a SYTOX Green dye (Fig. 4). (B) Analysis of MNase-treated extracellular DNA by agarose gel electrophoresis. Differentiated (D) and undifferentiated cells (U) were exposed to the indicated shot numbers of 20 kV/cm nsPEFs...
Read More

Direct Detection of Circulating Tumor cells in Blood Samples

Enhanced Glow: Direct detection of circulating tumor cells in blood samples
Enhanced Glow: Direct detection of circulating tumor cells in blood samples

Tumor cells circulating in blood are markers for the early detection and prognosis of cancer. However, detection of these cells is challenging because of their scarcity. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, scientists have now introduced an ultrasensitive method for the direct detection of circulating tumor cells in blood samples. It is based on the amplified, time-resolved fluorescence measurement of luminescent lanthanide ions released from nanoparticles that bind specifically to tumor cells.

Conventional techniques for the detection of circulating tumor cells require complicated enrichment before detection because a sample of 10 million blood cells only contains about one tumor cell...

Read More