Category Health/Medical

This diagram shows the setup for an imaging method that mapped electrical signals using a sheet of graphene and an infrared laser. The laser was fired through a prism (lower left) onto a sheet of graphene. An electrode was used to send tiny electrical signals into a liquid solution (in cylinder atop the graphene), and a camera (lower right) was used to capture images mapping out these electrical signals. (Credit: Halleh Balch and Jason Horng/Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley)

Team creates a system to visualize faint electric fields. Scientists have enlisted the exotic properties of graphene, a one-atom-thick layer of carbon, to function like the film of an incredibly sensitive camera system in visually mapping tiny electric fields in a liquid...

Stimulation of Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Enhances Adaptive Cognitive Control: A High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Study Oyetunde Gbadeyan, Katie McMahon, Marco Steinhauser and Marcus Meinzer Journal of Neuroscience 14 December 2016, 36 (50) 12530-12536; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2450-16.2016

A cutting edge, non-invasive brain stimulation technique could improve cognitive control for people with conditions such as schizophrenia and autism, ADHD. Researchers at The University of Queensland’s Centre for Clinical Research have found the technique – which applies high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation to a particular area of the brain – improves cognitive and conflict control.

PhD candidate Oyetunde Gbadeyan said the study provides th...

A schematic showing how a human monoclonal antibody containing a loop structure (CDR-H3) inspired by antibodies found naturally in camels can bind to matrix metalloproteinase 14, which has been shown to play a significant role in several types of cancer.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have camels and llamas to thank for their development of a new cancer treatment that is highly selective in blocking the action of faulty matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). MMPs are a group of 26 closely related proteinases (enzymes that break down other proteins) that are essential in tissue regeneration and other normal cellular processes. However, when a tumor grows, certain MMPs are over-produced, allowing cancer cells to spread to other parts of the body.

Assistant professor Xin Ge...

Reductions in Atherogenic Lipids and Major Cardiovascular Events A Pooled Analysis of 10 ODYSSEY Trials Comparing Alirocumab With Control Credit: Imperial College London

Although previous studies have suggested lowering cholesterol levels may be associated with a lower risk of heart attack, recent evidence has questioned whether very low levels are beneficial.
In the latest study, led by scientists at Imperial College London, researchers analysed data from over 5,000 people taking part in cholesterol-lowering trials. These studies utilised a new therapy to reduce cholesterol to much lower levels than previously possible.

The scientists found that dropping cholesterol to the lowest level possible – to levels similar to those we were born with – reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke or fa...