Monthly Archives: May 2018
Pancreaticobiliary reflux (PBR) and biliopancreatic reflux (BPR) can be diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
The pancreaticobiliary junction is a complex structure composed of the biliary and pancreatic ducts, which pass through the wall of the duodenum and lead to the ampulla of Vater, which is itself surrounded by sphincter of Oddi.
Physical activity and blood pressure in a Mediterranean population of not hypertensive adults
The importance of blood pressure (BP) control for the prevention of the main cardiovascular diseases emerges in the general population. Anthropometric characteristics and lifestyle habits have been widely recognized to influence BP values. A relevant role has
New psychoactive substances and drugs of abuse inhibit the reuptake of monoamines via monoamine transporters
The use of illicit drugs is high and 5% of the population worldwide used an illicit drug in the last year. While the prevalence of use of these common drugs is decreasing, the use of new psychoactive
Ultrapure cells for liver research
Worldwide, hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma cause considerable human suffering and high economic burdens. Causally responsible for the accumulation of excess scar tissue within the diseased liver are hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) representing 5-8% of the
A new drug combination rescues a rare Cystic Fibrosis mutation in patient tissue
University of Toronto researchers in the laboratory of Dr. Christine Bear, together with collaborators at SickKids Hospital (Toronto, Canada) and Proteostasis Therapeutics (Cambridge, Massachusetts), used computer simulations, cell-based systems and patient tissue to interrogate the consequences of
Child sexual abuse research quality needs to be improved
Child sexual abuse is a significant worldwide problem which results in major negative individual, family and community consequences. In response, prevention programs have become commonplace in schools. Given the evident seriousness of the consequences of sexual abuse
The physical entrapment of milk fat in cheese products impacts structure and functionality
Fats are an integral part of many food products, contributing to texture, flavor, and satiety aspects. In general, fats exist as a mixture of both solid and liquid triglycerides, where the solid fraction assembles into crystalline domains
Combining radiation with a PI3K/MTOR inhibitor
Patients with HPV-negative head and neck cancer (HNSCC) carry a poor prognosis despite optimal treatment with chemoradiation, with a 5 year survival of less than 50%. The future for this disease must lie in further escalation of
Monolithic, steerable, mid-infrared laser realized with no moving parts
In an ever-changing world, a system must adapt to its surroundings. This is especially true for applications like aircraft protection, where a laser must actively engage a missile moving at great speed. Another example is in mobile
Biological applications of Brewster angle microscopy
Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) is an imaging technique that allows for the visualization of the film architecture of monolayers without the use of exogenous dyes. This is a relatively new system that was developed independently and concurrently
Novel arginine demethylase function of JMJD1B gene controls cell fate decision of blood progenitors
Epigenetic modifications such as post-translational modifications (PTMs) of histone proteins and DNA methylation dynamically changes in cells to fine-tune the expression of genes required for normal cellular function. These epigenetic modifications involve in nearly all cell fate
Neutralization assays of biological activities of snake venoms by polyclonal anti-BnSP7 antibodies
The venom of the snakes contains a great diversity of molecules, which are toxic to animals, so that the symptomatologies developed in the victim’s body are related to multifactorial and synergistic actions of toxins, which are still
Labelled sunscreen SPFs overestimate protection in natural sunlight
The concept of the Sun Protection Factor (SPF) was popularised by the Austrian scientist Franz Greiter in the 1970s and subsequently adopted by many regulatory authorities and the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries as a measure of the
Metabolomics-based investigation of microbial contribution to fermented food
Soy sauce is one of the most important Japanese fermented seasoning. Its demand has been increasing all over the world in recent years. It is fermented by koji mold (Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae), lactic acid bacterium
Turkey model for flexor tendon research – can it replace the canine model?
Battlefield hand injuries accounted for 20 to 30% of combat wounds during Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which, soft tissue injuries compromised the majority in hand trauma. Flexor tendon injuries are among the most severe of hand injuries,
Codon usage bias study in cyanobacteria
Codon is a series of three nucleotides (a triplet) that encodes a specific amino acid residue in a polypeptide chain. There are 61 codons encoding different amino acids and 3 stop codons but only 20 different amino acids
Bacteria with a split personality outsmart the immune system
Bacteria, whether beneficial or harmful, must adapt to changes in their environment in order to survive. This is especially true for bacteria that reside within the human respiratory tract. The bacterium nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae, or NTHI, asymptomatically
Is there a link between hematologic malignancy and ischemic optic neuropathy?
Ischemic optic neuropathy is the most common acute optic neuropathy in patients over the age of 50. The ischemic injury may be localized to the anterior part of the optic nerve – anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION),
Back pain research: Skirting around the edges?
Low back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide. The fact that it is seldom possible to identify a specific nociceptive cause is thought to be a major barrier to its successful management. At the same
How the seasnake lost its bands
Across Europe, the Industrial Revolution of the early 1800s blackened the trees with soot. That shift in color exerted strong evolutionary pressure on many species of insects that were camouflaged against natural tree-trunks but very obvious (to
