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    Category Health/Medical

    Milking it: A New Robot to Extract Scorpion Venom

    July 4, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    A diagram of the VES-4, a scorpion-milking machine.

    A diagram of the VES-4, a scorpion-milking machine.

    A new scorpion-milking robot designed could replace the traditional manual method. Scorpion venom is used in medical applications such as immunosuppressants, anti-malarial drugs and cancer research, but the extraction process can be potentially life-threatening. “This robot makes venom recovery fast and safe,” says Mr Mouad Mkamel who designed the robot with a team of researchers from Ben M’sik Hassan II University, Morocco.

    “The extraction of scorpion venom is a very difficult task and usually takes at least two experimenters,” says Mr Mkamel. “There are numerous risks including potentially deadly scorpion stings and electric shocks from the stimulators used to extract the venom...

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    Altering Gut Bacteria Pathways may Stimulate Fat Tissue to Prevent Obesity

    July 3, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Highlights •Plasma TMAO levels are elevated in type 2 diabetic patients •Levels of the TMAO-producing enzyme FMO3 in adipose tissue correlate with obesity •Pharmacologic and genetic inhibition of Fmo3 stimulates white adipose tissue beiging •Inhibition of Fmo3 promotes resistance to obesity

    Highlights
    •Plasma TMAO levels are elevated in type 2 diabetic patients
    •Levels of the TMAO-producing enzyme FMO3 in adipose tissue correlate with obesity
    •Pharmacologic and genetic inhibition of Fmo3 stimulates white adipose tissue beiging
    •Inhibition of Fmo3 promotes resistance to obesity

    Cleveland Clinic researchers showed that blocking a specific intestinal microbial pathway can prevent obesity and insulin resistance, as well as cause fat tissue to become more metabolically active. The team, led by J. Mark Brown, Ph.D...

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    Patients with Multiple Sclerosis may benefit from OTC therapy

    July 2, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Demyelination by MS. The CD68 colored tissue shows several macrophages in the area of the lesion. Original scale 1:100. Credit: Marvin 101/Wikipedia

    Demyelination by MS. The CD68 colored tissue shows several macrophages in the area of the lesion. Original scale 1:100. Credit: Marvin 101/Wikipedia

    Over-the-Counter antioxidant lipoic acid holds promise in improving patients’ lives after an OHSU pilot study. Treatment options currently are limited for people suffering from secondary progressive MS. The randomized double-blind study involved 51 participants who completed the 2-year trial. 27 people were given a 1,200-milogram daily dose of lipoic acid, with the remaining 24 participants given a placebo. Researchers are using the findings from the pilot trial to design the expanded multi-site clinical trial to begin later this year in Portland and other sites that have yet to be finalized.

    “These are high doses,” said Rebecca Spain, M.D...

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    Popular Class of Drugs Reverse potentially Harmful Genetic Changes from Heart Disease

    July 2, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Atenolol reverses heart failure symptoms in TAC mice. (a) Experimental design overview. MEF2-LacZ mice (6–8 weeks old) underwent transverse aortic constriction (TAC) or Sham surgeries, followed by Solvent or Atenolol (50 mg/kg/day) treatment (n = 9). (b) Functional analysis of TAC or Sham mouse hearts after four weeks of Atenolol or Solvent treatment. End systolic diameter (ESD), end diastolic diameter (EDD), ejection fraction (EF), fractional shortening (FS), end systolic volume (ESV), end diastolic volume (EDV), left ventricular mass (LV), and left ventricular posterior wall depth (PWDd) were assessed by ultrasound echocardiography. (n = 9), Data are presented as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05 **P < 0.01 ***P < 0.001 vs Sham + Sol. (c) WGA stain depicting cardiac hypertrophy. Images are representative of an average of n ≥ 10 images per heart, 4 animals per group. Scale bar: 25 µm. Graph below shows cardiomyocyte size (CM cell size), quantified based on an average of ≥10 cell measurements per mouse (n = 4). (d) Masson’s Trichrome stain depicting fibrosis. Images are representative of n = 10 images per heart, 5 animals per group. Cardiomyocytes appear red, nuclei appear black and collagen appears blue. Scale bar: 100 µm. Graph shows quantified cardiomyocyte fibrosis based on a three representative images per mouse (n = 5). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. **P < 0.01 vs Sham + Sol. #P < 0.05 vs TAC + Sol.

    Atenolol reverses heart failure symptoms in TAC mice. (a) Experimental design overview. MEF2-LacZ mice (6–8 weeks old) underwent transverse aortic constriction (TAC) or Sham surgeries, followed by Solvent or Atenolol (50 mg/kg/day) treatment (n = 9). (b) Functional analysis of TAC or Sham mouse hearts after four weeks of Atenolol or Solvent treatment. End systolic diameter (ESD), end diastolic diameter (EDD), ejection fraction (EF), fractional shortening (FS), end systolic volume (ESV), end diastolic volume (EDV), left ventricular mass (LV), and left ventricular posterior wall depth (PWDd) were assessed by ultrasound echocardiography. (n = 9), Data are presented as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05 **P < 0.01 ***P < 0.001 vs Sham + Sol. (c) WGA stain depicting cardiac hypertrophy...

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