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    Category Health/Medical

    Selfies to Self-Diagnosis: Algorithm ‘Amps Up’ Smartphones to Diagnose Disease

    February 13, 2019, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology


    Images of a diagnostic assay are captured using a smartphone camera. Regions of interest are extracted and are converted to HSV (hue, saturation, value) space. After the conversion process, the standard pixel intensity analysis is applied to the saturation channel and the values are used to determine absorbance and concentration of the sample automatically.
    Credit: Florida Atlantic University

    Smartphones aren’t just for selfies anymore. A novel cell phone imaging algorithm can now analyze assays typically evaluated via spectroscopy, a powerful device used in scientific research. Researchers analyzed more than 10,000 images and found that their method consistently outperformed existing algorithms under a wide range of operating field conditions...

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    How a Fungus can Cripple the Immune System

    February 12, 2019, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Petri dish with Aspergillus fumigatus.
    Credit: Jan-Peter Kasper/University of Jena

    Research team clarifies the mechanism of gliotoxin, a mycotoxin from the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. Scientists have now discovered how the fungus knocks out the immune defenses, enabling a potentially fatal fungal infection to develop. It is everywhere – and it is extremely dangerous for people with a weakened immune system. The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus occurs virtually everywhere on Earth, as a dark grey, wrinkled cushion on damp walls or in microscopically small spores that blow through the air and cling to wallpaper, mattresses and floors. Healthy people usually have no problem if spores find their way into their body, as their immune defence system will put the spores out of action...

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    Gummy-like Robots that could Help Prevent Disease

    February 11, 2019, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Physics, Technology/Electronics, Health/Medical

    EPFL scientists have developed microscopic, hydrogel-based muscles that can manipulate and mechanically stimulate biological tissue. These soft, biocompatible robots could be used for targeted therapy and to help diagnose and prevent disease.
    Credit: Nebahat Yenihayat

    Scientists have developed microscopic, hydrogel-based muscles that can manipulate and mechanically stimulate biological tissue. These soft, biocompatible robots could be used for targeted therapy and to help diagnose and prevent disease. Human tissues experience a variety of mechanical stimuli that can affect their ability to carry out their physiological functions, such as protecting organs from injury...

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    Simple Drug Combination creates new Neurons from Neighboring cells

    February 10, 2019, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    A simple treatment using four small molecules converts human astrocytes – a common type of cells in the nervous system – into new neurons, which develop complex structures after 4 months, as pictured. Credit: Gong Chen Lab, Penn State
    A simple treatment using four small molecules converts human astrocytes – a common type of cells in the nervous system – into new neurons, which develop complex structures after 4 months, as pictured. Credit: Gong Chen Lab, Penn State

    A simple drug cocktail that converts cells neighboring damaged neurons into functional new neurons could potentially be used to treat stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and brain injuries. A team of researchers at Penn State identified a set of four, or even three, molecules that could convert glial cells – which normally provide support and insulation for neurons – into new neurons. A paper describing the approach appears online in the journal Stem Cell Reports on February 7, 2019.

    “The biggest problem for brain repair is that neurons don’t regenerate aft...

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