Monthly Archives: January 2018
Magnetic stimulation to target auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia
Schizophrenia (SZ) is a severe chronic mental disorder characterized by a range of symptoms, potentially including delusions, confused thinking, and hallucinations. One of the best-known symptoms is auditory verbal hallucination (AVH), also known as “hearing voices”, which
How to use machine learning to discover relevant aspects in the Dengue Virus protease and guide the drug discovery process?
Dengue Virus (DENV) is perhaps one of the most relevant viral pathogens in tropical and sub-tropical areas. A World Health Organization (WHO) report indicates that DENV related infections have increased 30-fold in the last 50 years. DENV
The position of the centromere is marked with ubiquitylation of CENP-A
Chromosomes must segregate equally between daughter cells during cell division, and for proper chromosome segregation, spindle microtubules must attach to a single region of each chromosome, termed the “centromere,” in most eukaryotes. The kinetochore is a complex
An old bug but still fully alive to be a challenge: Helicobacter pylori
The intriguing term “serendipity” (from the ancient name of Sri-Lanka) indicates the case of somebody, who, proceeding unaware along his/her own road, suddenly faces something unexpected. Serendipitous cases are obviously abundant in medical research history: the case
Many solutions to the same problem – cellular response to environmental challenges
When in contact with a hot object, our immediate response is to withdraw our hand. This instinctive reaction is an example of how external environment shapes our actions. In a similar fashion, bacteria are constantly monitoring and
The most effective system to weight lost
People who suffer from morbid obesity are at high risk for many diseases, atherogenic dyslipidemia, elevated blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, thromboembolism, hepatic steatosis, proinflammatory state, etc. Metabolic syndrome is characterized by the clustering of some, or
Understanding the many languages of RNA
The influence of DNA base modifications such as cytosine methylation in gene regulation is well established. These DNA modifications can act as epigenetic, non-nucleotide changes, modifications that ultimately shape the phenotype of the organism. Recently, a new
Tumors of the pituitary and headache: Will it get better after surgery?
Headaches belong to the most common neurological common disorders, with many patterns of presentation, ranging from acute to chronic. Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that half of the world’s population suffers from headache at least
Amino acid transporter chaperons its fusogenic partner: an essential role in placenta, and its implications for physiological and pathological cell fusion
Placenta is an essential organ for the fetal development of eutherian mammals. For the functions of placenta such as nutrient supply, gas exchange, metabolic waste elimination, and immunological protection, the maternal- and fetal blood circulations in the
Formaldehyde production during sunscreen agent 2-ethylhexyl 4-(dimethylamino)benzoate demethylation
It is well known that formaldehyde is a toxic and carcinogenic pollutant causing severe problems on humans’ health and aqueous ecosystems. Therefore, many attempts have been made to determine the sources of formaldehyde emission to the environment.
Continuous fabrication of polymeric vesicles and nanotubes with fluidic channels
Wilson and coworkers reported a fluidic channel based strategy for fabricating different shaped polymeric vesicles. The formation of polymeric vesicles is based on the self-assembly of amphiphilic block polymer, which constitutes of a hydrophobic segment and a
Bread packaging: how to reduce plastic consumption while retaining bread quality
Bread staling is mainly related to starch retrogradation, which hardens the loaf resulting in a significant decrease of consumer acceptance and in great economic losses. The inclusion of enzymes in bread formulation, such as lipase and amylase,
Incretin hormones and brain microglia team up to regulate brain homeostasis
The entire human body is made up of many complicated cells, processes, and interactions. As scientific discoveries are made, it becomes increasingly more evident how multidimensional and interconnected all of the biological systems and pathways of the
Flocculation using starch-based flocculants: An efficient pretreatment for purification of the textile dyeing secondary wastewater
China is a major textile manufacturer in the world; as a result, large quantities of dyeing effluents are generated every year in the country. Textile dyeing effluents are distinguished by high levels of chrominance, chemical oxygen demand,
Astrocytic modulation of brain waves
The human brain contains two major cell populations: neurons and glia. While neurons can propagate electrical signals, known as action potentials, glial cells remain electrically unexcitable. For this reason, for many years, they were thought to merely
How selenium tolerates arsenic toxicity in rice plant? Role of phenolics and nutrient elements in amelioration of arsenic induced phytotoxicity
Arsenic (As) contamination is a major environmental hazard of recent times which poses a health risk for human through food chain contamination. Nearly 200 million people are at risk of As toxicity. Millions of people depend on
Too hard to defeat Devils
Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) offers potentially curative therapy for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, relapse following HCT is considerable and becomes a major cause of failure in patients with MDS and AML.
Coevolutionary games and dynamic fitness landscapes: A synthesis?
A main feature of Darwinian evolution is that success in survival and reproduction is directed by selective pressure and entails competition among individuals. In other words, it is largely justified to recognize the proverbial survival of the
Activation: a double-edged sword for Treg
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a specialized subset of T cells. As the name suggests, they play a role in controlling and regulating other immune cells. Tregs, characterized by the expression of the forkhead/winged-helix transcription factor Foxp3,
TAFRO-syndrome and idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease: An analysis of a new subtype of the rare disease
Castleman disease (CD) is a group of three rare, poorly understood diseases that all involve excessive lymphocyte quantities. All three groups, therefore, are categorized as lymphoproliferative disease. The three groups of Castleman disease share similar lymph node
