Category Health/Medical

Put down the Protein Shake: Variety of protein better for health

protein shake
Samantha M. Solon-Biet et al, Branched-chain amino acids impact health and lifespan indirectly via amino acid balance and appetite control, Nature Metabolism (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s42255-019-0059-2

Popular protein great for increasing muscle mass, but could reduce your life-span – researchers say to vary protein intake. Researchers have examined whether there are any ongoing ramifications or potential side-effects from long-term high protein intake or from consuming certain types of amino acids.

Led by academics from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, Professor Stephen Simpson and Dr Samantha Solon-Biet, suggests that while delivering muscle-building benefits, excessive consumption of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) may reduce lifespan, negatively impact mood and...

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Urine Test could prevent Cervical Cancer, study finds

A comparison of the mean ct values for detection of the internal beta globin control and HR-HPV in urine, vaginal and cervical samples using the ART (A,B) and RC assays (C,D). ct, cycle threshold; HPV, human papillomavirus. 

Urine testing may be as effective as the smear test at preventing cervical cancer, according to new research by University of Manchester scientists. The study, led by Dr Emma Crosbie and published in BMJ Open, found that urine testing was just as good as the cervical smear at picking up high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer.

The research team say a urine test could help increase the numbers of women who are screened for cervical cancer, which affects more than 3,000 women every year in the UK.
Urine testing could also have...

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Magnets can help AI get closer to the efficiency of the human brain

Purdue University researchers have developed a process to use magnetics with brain-like networks to program and teach devices to better generalize about different objects.
Credit: Kaushik Roy/Purdue University

New brain-like networks could help robots approach human-like efficiency at object recognition tasks. Researchers have developed a process to use magnetics with brain-like networks to program and teach devices such as personal robots, self-driving cars and drones to better generalize about different objects.

Purdue University researchers and experts in brain-inspired computing think part of the answer may be found in magnets...

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An Army of Micro-Robots can wipe out Dental Plaque

With a precise, controlled movement, microrobots cleared a glass plate of a biofilm, as shown in this time-lapse image.
Credit: Geelsu Hwang and Edward Steager/University of Pennsylvania

A visit to the dentist typically involves time-consuming and sometimes unpleasant scraping with mechanical tools to remove plaque from teeth. What if, instead, a dentist could deploy a small army of tiny robots to precisely and non-invasively remove that buildup?

A team of engineers, dentists, and biologists from the University of Pennsylvania developed a microscopic robotic cleaning crew...

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