news 2018

EPFL scientists have discovered how a dysfunction in the immune system can cause an overload of a gut bacterium. The bacterium produces excess lactic acid, which in turn triggers the production of reactive oxygen species that cause damage to cells and many age-related pathologies. There is no doubt that gut bacteria have become one of the most important focuses of biological and medical research today.

A five-minute scan of blood vessels in the neck during mid-life could predict cognitive decline ten years before symptoms appear, claims new UCL research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The findings were presented at the AHA Scientific Sessions conference in Chicago. If confirmed in larger studies, the scan could become part of routine screening programme for people at risk of developing dementia.

FINDINGS The researchers found that high-density lipoprotein, or HDL, sometimes referred to as "good" cholesterol, is transported from the outer wall to the interior of cells by a protein that helps create a "bridge" between the two areas. BACKGROUND HDL cholesterol has been linked for years to a reduced risk of coronary heart disease.

Again and again it happens that humans fall ill with diarrhoea or have to vomit because they have come into contact with virus-contaminated liquids.

Prospective students Current students Vaccinia virus, a poxvirus closely related to smallpox and monkeypox, tricks cells it has infected into activating their own cell movement mechanism to rapidly spread the virus in cells and mice, according to a new UCL-led study. The findings explain how the virus mimics infected cells' own proteins to kick-start the signalling pathway enabling the cell to move around.

Researchers at the University of Bristol, supported by the British Veterinary Association, the British Cattle Veterinary Association and the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA) Alliance, are calling for veterinary surgeons in the UK to work together with their farmer clients to remove expired and inappropriate veterinary medicines from farms and dispose of them appropriately.

Biochips have been developed at TU Wien (Vienna), on which tissue can be produced and examined. This allows supplying the tissue with different substances in a very controlled way. Cultivating human cells in the Petri dish is not a big challenge today. Producing artificial tissue, however, permeated by fine blood vessels, is a much more difficult task.

Scientists have uncovered that next to estrogen receptor positive and negative there are cells with very low amounts of the receptor protein. The discovery has significant implications for the role of the receptor in the growth and development of the breast and breast cancer development. Estrogens are hormones that play central roles in the development and the physiology of the breast, but also are involved in breast cancer.

Stanford researchers used focused ultrasound to pry molecules of an anesthetic loose from nanoparticles. The drug's release modified activity in brain regions targeted by the ultrasound beam. An illustration of a nanoparticle designed for precision ultrasound drug release. Ultrasound heats up the liquid core (white), disrupting a copolymer matrix (blue) on the particle's surface and releasing drug molecules (red) from the matrix.

A multi-center study of the genetic remains of people who settled thousands of years ago in the Andes Mountains of South America reveals a complex picture of human adaptation-from early settlement to the devastating exposure to European disease in the 16th century. Professor Anna Di Rienzo was part of a research team that used newly available samples of DNA from seven whole genomes to study how ancient Andean people-including groups that clustered around Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia, 12,000 feet above sea level-adapted to their environment over the centuries.

Scientists from the University of Glasgow will be giving the public a chance to get more than flat-packed furniture and meatballs at Glasgow's IKEA this month, as they join Saturday shoppers to showcase the university's world-changing research. On November 24, around 100 world-renowned researchers and students from the University's College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS) will be across 10 activity stands in and around IKEA Braehead's showroom and café for the "at home with Life Sciences" event.

Smoking, diabetes and high blood pressure increase the risk of a heart attack more in women than in men, new research from The George Institute for Global Health at the University of Oxford has found. The study, of 472,000 participants aged 40-69, found that smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and having a BMI ≥25 puts both men and women at increased risk of having a heart attack.

Miniature devices for sensing biological molecules could be developed quicker thanks to a rapid prototyping method. Devices that sense and measure biological molecules important for healthcare, such as detecting diseases in blood samples, rely on electrodes to carry out their tasks. We hope this method will allow bioelectronics to benefit from that ecosystem of hackers getting hands-on with problems and solutions in healthcare.

Administrative affairs Arts and entertainment Buildings and grounds For UW employees Health and medicine Honors and awards Official notices Politics and government UW and the community New research from the University of Washington and the University of Massachusetts – Amherst looks at how the most common cause of sneezing and sniffling in North America is likely to shift under climate change.

A study comparing DNA and RNA data from Nigerian breast cancer patients to patients in a United States database found that certain aggressive molecular features were far more prevalent in tumors from Nigerian women than in black or white American women. In a study in  Nature Communications , the authors say those differences in multiple molecular features could in part explain disparities in breast cancer mortality for women from Nigeria, and perhaps other West African nations.

In a study that might enable earlier diagnosis, neuroscientists find abnormal brain connections that can predict onset of psychotic episodes. Schizophrenia, a brain disorder that produces hallucinations, delusions, and cognitive impairments, usually strikes during adolescence or young adulthood. While some signs can suggest that a person is at high risk for developing the disorder, there is no way to definitively diagnose it until the first psychotic episode occurs.

Wanting your child to have the best chance in life is natural for any parent. But by focusing too much on the 'skill' of parenting, are we losing sight of things that matter more - how we talk to and play with children? Cambridge researchers are examining how parents can best help their children in their early years through nurturing rather than shaping.

Rapid precision-scanning technology to speed up medical diagnoses and help address Australia's shortage of trained pathologists is being developed at the University of Queensland. The University's Digital Pathology team is working to replace glass pathology slides with digital slides for faster analysis, distribution and storage.

Injuries can't heal without a constant influx of blood's key ingredient - oxygen. A new flexible sensor developed by engineers at UC Berkeley can map blood-oxygen levels over large areas of skin, tissue and organs, potentially giving doctors a new way to monitor healing wounds in real time. "When you hear the word oximeter, the name for blood-oxygen sensors, rigid and bulky finger-clip sensors come into your mind," said Yasser Khan, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer sciences at UC Berkeley.

EPA Says Increase is an indicator of climate change Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in North America and its incidence has risen sharply in the last decade. Since its progression depends on environmental factors, increases in daily temperatures, a manifestation of climate change, might be contributing to a rise in the number of ticks as well as a greater availability of hosts.