Category Health/Medical

Physics student Ryan Bouricius with the prosthetic hand he built. Credit: Image courtesy of Ithaca College

With a 3D printer and about $15, senior physics major Ryan Bouricius was able to create a functional prosthetic hand that can be used to grip, write and even catch a ball. With the assistance of a non-profit group, the hand will one day be matched to a person in need of such a prosthesis. The prosthetic hand is designed for a person who still has the ability to move their wrist. By moving their wrist, they can control and use the hand’s fingers to grab and hold various objects.

Bouricius, who as a teaching assistant helps run the Ithaca College 3D Printing Lab, became interested in building prostheses after coming across a YouTube video of someone printing and assembling prosthetic ha...

Running decreases knee intra-articular cytokine and cartilage oligomeric matrix concentrations: a pilot study. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2016; 116 (11-12): 2305 DOI: 10.1007/s00421-016-3474-z

Running may also slow the process that leads to osteoarthritis. New research from BYU exercise science professors finds that pro-inflammatory molecules actually go down in the knee joint after running. “It flies in the face of intuition,” said Matt Seeley, associate professor of exercise science at BYU. “This idea that long-distance running is bad for your knees might be a myth.”

In a study recently published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, Seeley and a group of BYU colleagues, as well as Dr...

Knocking out the Spop protein in developing mouse limb leads to brachydactyly, a shortening of the fingers and toes (left) and reduced bone density (right). Credit: Liu Laboratory, Penn State University

Loss of a key protein leads to defects in skeletal development including reduced bone density and a shortening of the fingers and toes – brachydactyly. The discovery was made by researchers at Penn State University who knocked out the Speckle-type POZ Protein (Spop) in the mouse and characterized the impact on bone development. The research redefines the role of Spop during bone development and provides a new potential target for the diagnosis and treatment of bone diseases such as osteoporosis.

“The Spop protein is involved in Hedgehog signaling – a well-studied cell-to-cell communicatio...

Crystal structure of the PodA protein complex with three molecules of 1-hydroxyphenazine, the reaction product, bound in the active sites. Credit: Kyle Costa/Caltech

Many infectious pathogens are difficult to treat because they develop into biofilms, layers of metabolically active but slowly growing bacteria embedded in a protective layer of slime, which are inherently more resistant to antibiotics. Now, researchers at Caltech and University of Oxford have made progress in the fight against biofilms. Led by Dianne Newman, the Gordon M. Binder/Amgen Professor of Biology and Geobiology, the group identified a protein that degrades and inhibits biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the primary pathogen in cystic fibrosis (CF) infections.

“Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes chronic infections that ar...