Researchers at the University of Tokyo identified the pathways for transferring electrons in the bacterial protein MtrF by ascertaining through computer simulation the protein's detailed molecular structure involved in anaerobic respiration, the process by which bacteria and other organisms produce energy in environments without oxygen. While many living organisms, including humans, produce energy (ATP) for life activities through respiration that requires reduction, the transfer of electrons...

Royal Philips has launched 'DreamStation Go', its a small 'positive airway pressure' (PAP) device designed to simplify travel for patients living with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). At half the size of Philips’ previous generation devices, DreamStation Go delivers the same clinically-proven performance and comfort, for reliable, convenient therapy on-the-go. Philips simplifies travel for sleep apnea patients with new compact and connected DreamStation Go sleep therapy device  Designed wi...

New research shows it is the kind of diet a primate species consumes that offers the best explanation for its brain size, writes Darren Curnoe. It’s the mystery of all mysteries of science. Why is it that humans are so unusual compared to all other life? The key to solving this riddle lies in explaining the evolution of our large brains and exceptional intelligence. For as long as humanity has been contemplating our existence we must surely have been struck by the fa...

It is well accepted that severe spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to functional disconnection of ascending and descending spinal pathways, impairing neural circuitry through and below the SCI. However, in clinically complete SCI, defined as American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) level A, a portion of neural tissue commonly remains intact across the injury site1 and may provide nonspecific supraspinal influence on sublesional spinal circuitry.2, 3, 4, 5 This injury profile is defi...

Hormone replacement therapy has long been controversial. While some studies suggest that it lowers the risk of osteoporosis and improves some aspects of heart health, others link it to higher risk of cancer and stroke. A new imaging study by investigators at Cedars-Sinai suggests that women using hormone replacement therapy to relieve menopause symptoms face a lower risk of death and show lower levels of atherosclerosis — plaque buildup in the heart's arteries — than women who do not use horm...

  Semiconductor nanowires, with lasing emission at room temperature, can be transferred in a controlled way to specific locations on diverse substrates and organized into bespoke spatial patterns. Semiconductor nanowire (NW) lasers provide coherent light sources with highly localized emission and extremely small footprints. Such lasers may thus have the potential to revolutionize the field of photonics. Indeed, NW lasers are expected to play a key role in future optoelectronic sys...

Individuals with lower leg injuries could soon be saying goodbye to traditional crutches with the development of a hands-free alternative that is more comfortable and potentially more effective. The device, developed by Purdue University graduates, could provide ergonomic and natural movement and transmit real-time recovery data to physicians. “Six and a half million people in the U.S. today use devices such as wheelchairs, walkers, crutches and canes. Traditional crutches are the most common...

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are developing and testing a new peptide that they hope will lead to better treatment options for familial hypercholesterolemia. FH is a genetic condition that results from the body’s inability to clear low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad cholesterol, from the blood. This results in startlingly high cholesterol levels. There are two forms of FH: heterozygous FH (HeFH) and homozygous HoFH, which is the most serious type of FH. If untreat...

A Stanford electrical engineer has invented a way to wirelessly transfer power deep inside the body, and then use this power to run tiny electronic medical gadgets such as pacemakers, nerve stimulators or new sensors and devices yet to be developed. The discoveries reported May 19 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences culminate years of efforts by Ada Poon, assistant professor of electrical engineering, to eliminate the bulky batteries and clumsy recharging systems that preve...

Purdue University researchers are developing software in a “haptic device” that could give people with visual impairments the ability to identify scientific images on a computer screen using their other senses. Ting Zhang, a graduate student in the Purdue School of Industrial Engineering, is developing a system that involves a specially designed joystick attached to a computer. The joystick controls a cursor. When the cursor moves across an object on the screen, force feedback, vibrations and...

Scientists at UCL have developed a way to use MRI scans to help identify when HIV is persisting in the brain despite effective drug treatment. The study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and funded by Wellcome, shows that patients can have HIV in the brain even when the disease is kept under control by treatment. "Before we had effective treatments for HIV, AIDS often led to dementia and other problems in the brain," explains senior author Professor Ravi Gupta (UCL Infection & I...

Personalized medicine is a medical procedure that separates patients into different groups—with medical decisions, practices, interventions and/or products being tailored to the individual patient based on their predicted response or risk of disease. The terms personalized medicine, precision medicine, stratified medicine and P4 medicine are used interchangeably to describe this concept though some authors and organisations use these expressions separately to indicate particular nuances. Pers...

SkinCare is a human physiology experiment, which aims at characterizing different parameters of human skin (i.e. hydration grade, transepidermal water loss, skin surface video imaging) in weightlessness and inside the International Space Station. Long-duration missions in microgravity affect skin by causing excessive dryness, increased cell loss and increased aging. Investigators will test the applicability of the space environment as a model of aging skin. Noninvasive medical equipment will be ...