Hypothetical updated Jack model of AD biomarkers to include the role of brain vasculature.

Breakdown of blood vessel lining is seen in multiple neurodegenerative diseases. USC scientists say Alzheimer’s could be diagnosed earlier if scientists focus on an early warning within the brain’s circulation system. That’s important because researchers believe that the earlier Alzheimer’s is spotted, the better chance there is to stop or slow the disease.

“Cognitive impairment, and accumulation in the brain of the abnormal proteins amyloid and tau, are what we currently rely upon to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, but blood-brain barrier breakdown and cerebral blood flow changes can be seen much earlier,” said Berislav Zlokovic, the Mary Hayley and Selim Zilkha Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease Research...

Rectal insulin instillation inhibits inflammation and tumor development in chemically-induced colitis. Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis, 2018; DOI: 10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjy112

Diabetes is not the only disease on which insulin has an effect, it appears. Chronic bowel inflammation can be treated effectively by injecting insulin into the rectum, it appears from a new study, where researchers have tested the treatment on mice. The study is a collaboration between departments at the University of Copenhagen and Roskilde University.

‘Our new treatment with insulin on mice shows great potential against chronic bowel inflammation in humans like Colitis Ulcerosa, which causes a lot of people great discomfort...

This scanning electron microscope image shows the carbon cathode of a carbon-dioxide-based battery made by MIT researchers, after the battery was discharged. It shows the buildup of carbon compounds on the surface, composed of carbonate material that could be derived from power plant emissions, compared to the original pristine surface (inset).
Credit: Courtesy of the researchers

Lithium-based battery could make use of greenhouse gas before it ever gets into the atmosphere. A new type of battery developed by researchers at MIT could be made partly from carbon dioxide captured from power plants...

Artist’s impression of a perturbation in the velocities of stars in our Galaxy, the Milky Way, that was revealed by ESA’s star mapping mission, Gaia. Credit: ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

ESA’s star mapping mission, Gaia, has shown our Milky Way galaxy is still enduring the effects of a near collision that set millions of stars moving like ripples on a pond. The close encounter likely took place sometime in the past 300-900 million years. It was discovered because of the pattern of movement it has given to stars in the Milky Way disc – one of the major components of our Galaxy.

The pattern was revealed because Gaia not only accurately measures the positions of more than a billion stars but also precisely measures their velocities on the plane of the sky...