Daily Archives: December 11, 2015

New approach to stopping Dengue fever

The virus that causes Dengue Fever, DENV, infects an estimated 390 million people per year, often leading to severe disease (used to be called Breakbone Fever for the pain it caused), hemorrhagic fever and often death. It’s

Getting mental health services: not so easy for most people

Mental illness includes a variety of recognized psychiatric disorders and represents an enormous public health problem in the United States and worldwide. The US has a population of approximately 320 million people. At a given point in

Death and stroke risks after surgical aortic valve replacement: A real world perspective

With a rapidly rising proportion of aging population, aortic stenosis (AS) represents one of the most common valvular heart diseases affecting adults in the US and accounts for at least 92,000 aortic valve replacements (AVR) annually in

Increased stress hormone exposure can be beneficial

Under challenging circumstances, such as predator exposure or lack of food, animals naturally secrete stress hormones. Production, secretion and release into the bloodstream of these hormones is tightly regulated by the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis (the stress axis), a

Marine oily wastewater treatment: process simulation and control using soft computing approaches

The chronic discharge of oily wastewater, mainly including bilge water, offshore produced water and ballast water, has been referred to as a major contributor to marine oil pollution. Although gravity – based treatment techniques (e.g., hydrocyclone and

Cost compared to effects of food and micronutrient supplementation in pregnancy for rural Bangladeshi women

When under nutrition affects pregnant women it many leave long lasting consequences on the newborn baby. Even though over nutrition in the form of overweight and obesity is now sweeping the world, in low-income countries under nutrition

Assessment of the influence of traffic-related particles in dust

Dust particles present in our daily lives consist of a mixture of materials from different sources, such as soils, traffic-related particles, pavement particles, etc. Due to their low particle size, dust particles can be easily re-suspended and

Oxygen-transfer performance of a new, very low-volume membrane oxygenator

During heart surgery, an external system (extracorporeal circulation) is often needed to replace the normal function of the heart and lungs to ensure blood circulation to the brain and all other organs. One key element of this

From milliseconds to lifetimes: dynamic behavior of transcription factors in gene networks

When living organisms are exposed to a sudden change in the environment, many genes are turned on in an organized manner to enable the organism to cope and respond to the changing environment. This coordinated genome-wide response

How to design a plasmonic sensor more sensitive to the environment?

Noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) such as Au NPs and Ag NPs support localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs), which are the light-coupled coherent oscillations of free electrons confined within the NPs. The LSPRs, which are characterized by the

Gaining insight in biological hydrogen production by computational approaches

Hydrogen is one of the most important raw materials for the chemical industry and has an undisputed future importance as an environmentally friendly fuel. At present, 96% of the 500 billion m3 of hydrogen gas that is

Fully human anti-CAIX antibodies for RCC immunotherapy

Globally, there are roughly 270,000 new cases and 116,000 deaths attributed to kidney cancer occur each year. More than 90% of kidney neoplasms are classified as renal cell carcinoma (RCC), which accounts for 3% of all adult

Utilizing inkjet printing for low-cost glucose monitoring

Diabetes is a disease affecting more and more people across the world every year. In low-income countries, this growth is most detrimental since they lack the healthcare infrastructure necessary to deal the growing problem. Work is being

Fluid flow dynamics in a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance system

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a very powerful analysis method employed in biology and chemistry. It helps us to gain information about the molecular structure of a wide range of molecules. For example food production companies employ

A slipped-alignment of rhodamine dyes results in pink-to-blue color change

Color originates from absorption and reflection of visible light. The reason that a molecule can absorb a certain color of light is the interaction between molecular electrons and incident light. If the electronic state of a molecule

The influence of pollution on bone premature aging: the case of the fishbone

Bone is one of the most sophisticated biological structures developed by nature, its major constituent is a calcium phosphate mineral that is similar, in composition and structure, to minerals within the apatite group which are naturally formed