Yearly Archives: 2016
Diamonds – The doctors’s best friend?!
Most people know about diamonds as jewelry and as the hardest material that can cut nearly everything. It is also known that what makes diamonds unique is the crystalline structure, which is brought about primarily with high
The tiny riders
Nematodes have evolved tremendously to occupy diverse niches while inhabiting all possible habitats on earth. Besides being usually categorised as parasitic or free-living forms they can further show diverse types of feeding guilds and associations. Diplogastrids represent
Facial fractures among Sudanese children
Trauma to the face in children can result fractures to the facial bones and jaw are less frequent compared to adults but result in special complications affecting the growth, function and esthetics. The study aimed at assessing
Normal mouth fungus changes after admission to the intensive care unit
The mouth is an important entry point into the body. Under normal conditions the mouth has many kinds of fungus, called the oral mycobiome, that help the body maintain health and resist infections. Several factors contribute to
Cancer and blood vessels: an old ridlle resolved
As any other organ of the human body, cancer needs a blood supply to provide oxygen and nutrients and to eliminate wastes. Although already the ancient Greeks had realized that there is a close relationship between tumours
Do you have pain on the lateral side of your knee (often diagnosed as iliotibial Band Syndrome)?
Runners, bicyclists, and many other active individuals who experience pain along the lateral side of their knee joint are often diagnosed as having iliotibial band syndrome or iliotibial band friction syndrome. This problem is attributed to a
May apple inspires new anti-tumour compounds that trigger preferential death of cancer cells
Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) are woodland plants, typically growing across most of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. All the parts of the plant are poisonous even the leaves and the root. Mayapple contains podophyllotoxin which is
Review of ten-years presence of Aedes albopictus in Spain
The tiger mosquito was first detected in 2004 near Barcelona, although maybe it had arrived one or two years before. Since then, its distribution has been spreading and, in 2014, it has been found in almost all
Poor blood sugar control in elderly people with diabetes is associated with increased infection risk
Diabetes guidelines for doctors (such as those by NICE) suggest that they consider relaxing the blood sugar control targets for older people. This is because older people are less likely to get the long-term benefits of improved
Prox-1 and adipogenesis
Adipogenesis is the biological process that controls adipocytes differentiation and is one of the most well studied models of cellular differentiation. Adipose tissue is involved in the control of energy balance and especially in the study of
Safely basking in the sun: Some plants apply sunscreen only when they need it
Many of us are routinely advised by our dermatologists to put on our sunscreen before we go outside and to even add more sunscreen in the middle of the day when the sun’s UV rays are most
Transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of tinnitus
Millions of people experience tinnitus – the perception of ringing or other sounds in the ears/head that does not have an external source. The most common cause of tinnitus is damage to/degeneration of auditory structures because of
‘Resurrection plants’, our ticket to crop drought tolerance?
The loss of crops or decrease in crop yields due to drought has been and still is a major natural disaster, resulting in multiple devastating humanitarian and environmental impacts. This is becoming prevalent in almost every inhabited
Outcomes of Influenza infections in hematopoietic cell transplant recipients
Influenza infection causes mild disease in most cases and severe complications in very few cases. The severity of influenza infection depends mainly on the type of influenza virus and the status of the patient’s immune system. Since
Cerebral herniation into the sigmoid sinus: A newly-realized cause of epilepsy
Epilepsy is a chronic disorder characterized by recurrent seizures, which may vary from a brief period of lapse of attention or muscle jerks, to severe and prolonged convulsions. The seizures are caused by sudden, usually brief, excessive
Nanostructure makes crystalline compound physically reactive
Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) belongs to a class of crystalline compounds with layered structure: it consists of parallel honeycomb layers, in which hexagons vertices are alternatively occupied by boron (B) and nitrogen (N) atoms. Intra-layer bonds between
A capillaroscopy based method to help prediction of Systemic Sclerosis onset
Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is a rare systemic disease, characterized by immune system alterations and diffused microvascular disruption, followed by fibrosis of skin and internal organs, and Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP) is often the first clinical manifestation of the
Vitamin E helps protect healthy fats critical for brain development
During development, the brain requires more oxygen than any other organ – about 60% of the total oxygen consumed by a growing fetus is used to support the high metabolic demands of neurodevelopment. This means the developing
Potassium in dental plaque, an old story with a new perspective
Dental plaque or biofilm is home to caries causing bacteria such as Streptococcus mutans. Interestingly, the fluid in the biofilm is like an aqueous reservoir of material shared between different species. Although the fluid content is derived
Understanding the dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Animal models are indispensible in the development of novel therapies. A clear understanding of the model itself is essential before the model is used in research. This means we need to know every aspect of the model
