Yearly Archives: 2015
Killing microbes with red light
Photosensitization is a process in which a chemical compound (photosensitizer) that absorbs energy from light is able to transfer that energy to oxygen molecules. As a consequence, reactive oxygen species (ROS), highly toxic to living cells, are
Making it easier to study personalized genomic biomarkers of lung disease
In the past few years, there has been significant progress in understanding how lung disease develops and predict who will respond to certain targeted therapies by obtaining lung tissue from research participants and studying changes in mechanistic
Helpful tool for the characterization of cancer
Follicular lymphoma is a sort of blood cancer and among the most frequent subtypes of indolent (painless) lymphomas. Most patients are diagnosed very late, when the illness is in an advanced stage. The origins of the tumor
Computed tomography in liver cirrhosis
Liver cirrhosis is a disease with many different clinical and patho-physiological aspects, involving digestive and extra-digestive organs and systems. On the base of clinical signs and laboratory tests different scores entered in the common practice. We observed
The management of elderly patients with severe traumatic brain injury
The elderly population is defined by the World Health Organization as those aged over 65 years. Life expectancy has gradually increased but as the population of the elderly has progressively increased so has the incidence of traumatic
Synthetic biology competition inspires young microbiologists to change the world
Synthetic biology is a rapidly expanding area of science that incorporates engineering principles to design and build biological processes for useful and sustainable purposes. In addition, synthetic biology projects often incorporate expertise from the arts and humanities.
Catching the ‘uncatchable smile’ illusion in Leonardo da Vinci’s La Bella Principessa Painting
In 1998 a little known painting believed to be a 19th century imitation of an Italian Renaissance painting by an unnamed German Romantic artist was sold in a New York gallery. Following examination by experts the painting
A novel method of stool DNA analysis for colorectal cancer diagnosis
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most frequent malignant diseases worldwide, with a high rate of mortality. The detection of precancerous and early-stage CRC is central to improve prognosis and the survival rate of patients. Currently,
Geology’s latest gift to molecular biology?
Only a few hardy bacteria and archaea make their home in geothermal springs, but the enzymes of these thermophiles have for decades benefitted biological research. While the value of the bacterial DNA polymerase “Taq” in amplifying DNA
A study to establishing the structural integrity of core−shell nanoparticles
Lanthanide – doped core – shell nanoparticles, such as NaYF4:Yb/Er@NaYF4, have attracted increasing attention for applications in photonics, photovoltaics, and biological imaging and therapeutics. When compared to conventional nanoparticles that suffer from extensive and uncontrollable dopant −
Reducing blood loss in brain surgery with extracranial early devascularization techniques
The anatomical region located under the frontal lobes of the brain, just above the eyes and the nose is called “anterior skull base”. The most common tumors involving this region arise from the soft tissue layers that
Fluorescent micro-RNA for cancer diagnostics
Biomarkers are indicators of biological states or conditions and can therefore provide important information about diseases such as cancer. In clinical diagnostics biomarkers are most often proteins or nucleic acids such as DNA or RNA. Biomarkers that
Adding phospholipid to drug formulation: a promising approach to improve drug absorption
For a patient to benefit from the therapeutic effects of any medicine, the prerequisite is that the drug is adequately absorbed after drug intake. Unfortunately, at least 40% of the marketed drugs and up to 90% of
The importance of parents in children’s reading skills
Home literacy environment explains between 12 and 18.5 % of the variance of children’s language skills. Although most authors agree that children whose parents encourage them to read tend to develop better and earlier reading skills, some authors
Oligodendrocyte Tau’s failed quest for microtubules results in myelin decrease and falling
Oligodendrocytes make a good-sized myelin that surrounds axons and allows humans to walk and see. In contrast, when axons do not get enough myelin, axonal function is incapacitated, with resulting deficits in cognition, behavior, and in the
A better understanding of cell division by combining mathematical modeling and experimentation
The cell division cycle is the process by which a growing cell replicates its genome and partitions the two copies of each chromosome to two daughter cells at division. It is of utmost importance to the perpetuation
Sensitivity to explosion of chemicals estimated using only a hand held calculator
The ability to predict the explosivity of energetic materials on the basis of their molecular structure would be of utmost interest for the design of explosives and propellants, to develop safe handling practices in the field and
Cold denaturation
Most proteins can be thought like beady chains which form compact well-ordered coils whose surface protects the greasy-like interior from the contact with water molecules. We are studying what are the forces which keep the coil compact.
Glutathione: a molecular whistleblower for Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease: Neurons in select pockets of the brain begin to die off, slowly and incrementally erasing an individual’s memory and eroding their individuality. It is a devastating disease, one that affects more than 36 million individuals
New drugs for cancer treatment
Cancer is a major cause of death and more than 1 million people in the United States are diagnosed with cancer each year. Finding more effective methods to treat cancer remains a challenge, and researchers are working
