Category Health/Medical

Serum cortisol fully mediates the relationship between fecal Ruminococcus and MRS-derived brain N-acetylaspartate. First, fecal Ruminococcus negatively predicted MRS-derived brain NAA concentrations (path A). Second, fecal Ruminococcus negatively predicted serum cortisol concentrations (path B). Third, mediation effects were assessed for serum cortisol concentrations. The indirect effect (i.e., the effect of fecal Ruminococcus through serum cortisol on MRS-derived brain NAA; path B × C) was significant, and the direct effect (path A’) was not significant. Thus, serum cortisol fully mediates the relationship between fecal Ruminococcus and MRS-derived brain NAA. Abbreviation: N-acetylaspartate (NAA).

Recent studies show microbes can influence human health, behavior, and certain neurologic...

Spacer Parameters (a) Schematic of spaser as multimodal cellular nanoprobe. (b) Comparison of emission in suspensions of uranine spaser at 528 m (green peak; pump energy fluence 70 mJ cm−2), fluorescein spaser (magenta peak), QD with maximum at 576 nm (inset, red peak) and GNRs (right) with silica shell doped with DCM. TEM images shows 22-nm spaser (left inset) and GNRs (right inset).

A nanolaser known as the spaser can serve as a super-bright, water-soluble, biocompatible probe capable of finding metastasized cancer cells in the blood stream and then killing these cells, according to a new research study...

A research team led by Professor Kyung-In Jang of Robotics Engineering collects, analyzes, and diagnoses bio-signals wirelessly transmitted to mobile application from the soft electronic skin. Credit: DGIST

A soft, stick-on patch collects, analyzes and wirelessly transmits a variety of health metrics from the body to a smartphone. A new, electronic skin microsystem tracks heart rate, respiration, muscle movement and other health data, and wirelessly transmits it to a smartphone. The electronic skin offers several improvements over existing trackers, including greater flexibility, smaller size, and the ability to stick the self-adhesive patch – which is a very soft silicone about 4cm (1.5 inches) in diameter – just about anywhere on the body..

The electronic skin contains about 50 component...

rheumatoid arthritis in hands

But no such association found for breastfeeding after influential factors accounted for. Taking the contraceptive pill, particularly for 7 or more consecutive years, is linked to a lowered risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, finds research published online in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. But no significant link was found for breastfeeding – a practice that has been associated with a protective effect – after accounting for various potentially influential factors, the findings show.

Because rheumatoid arthritis is 2 to 3 times as common in women as it is in men, it is thought hormonal and reproductive factors may partly explain this gender difference. But the research to date has produced equivocal results...