The Large Magelanic Cloud is a well-known satellite or dwarf galaxy that closely orbits the Milky Way and is visible in Earth’s southern hemisphere. RIT researchers make the case for the existence of “missing” satellite galaxies that are cloaked in dark matter and cannot be directly observed. Credit: ESA/NASA/Hubble

Research conducted by scientists at Rochester Institute of Technology rules out a challenge to the accepted standard model of the universe and theory of how galaxies form by shedding new light on a problematic structure...

Cardiologists Dr. James de Lemos (left) and Dr. Amit Khera (right) review a printout from an EKG and a calcium scan, two of five tests they demonstrated could improve risk assessment for heart disease. Credit: UT Southwestern

Five medical tests together provide a broader and more accurate assessment of heart-disease risk than currently used methods, cardiologists at UT Southwestern Medical Center found. Combined, results from the five tests – an EKG, a limited CT scan, and 3 blood tests – better predict who will develop heart disease compared with standard strategies that focus on blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking history. “This set of tests is really powerful in identifying unexpected risk among individuals with few traditional risk factors...

Rods, cones and nerve layers in the retina. The front (anterior) of the eye is on the left. Light (from the left) passes through several transparent nerve layers to reach the rods and cones (far right). A chemical change in the rods and cones send a signal back to the nerves. The signal goes first to the bipolar and horizontal cells (yellow layer), then to the amacrine cells and ganglion cells (purple layer), then to the optic nerve fibres. The signals are processed in these layers. First, the signals start as raw outputs of points in the rod and cone cells. Then the nerve layers identify simple shapes, such as bright points surrounded by dark points, edges, and movement. (Based on a drawing by Ramón y Cajal.)

A new report gives recommendations for regenerating retinal ganglion cells RGCs...

This guided drug delivery system targets solid tumors. Credit: UAB

These microcarriers may offer an entirely different approach to treating solid human tumors of numerous pathologic subtypes by delivering their encapsulated drug cargo to a tumor and protecting against collateral tissue damage. These multilayer capsules show three traits that have been difficult to achieve in a single entity. They have good imaging contrast that allows detection with low-power ultrasound, they can stably and efficiently encapsulate the cancer drug doxorubicin, and both a low- and higher-power dose of ultrasound can trigger the release of that cargo.

These 3 features create a guided drug delivery system to target solid tumors...