Monthly Archives: October 2018
Uremia. A history of urine in the blood
The term uremia was first introduced in 1847; literally translated, it means “urine in the blood.” Today, uremia describes the myriad of symptoms and organ derangements that result from the failure of the kidneys in its normal
Patient safety ward round checklist via an electronic app
Patient safety is the tentpole around which modern healthcare is built. Though awareness of shortcomings in safety checks in the medical community is growing, implementing systematic approaches similar to those utilized in other high reliability industries is
Endothelial stiffening: a new parameter of endothelial damage in athero-susceptible regions of aorta
Atherosclerotic plaques that clog major arteries and lead to heart attacks and strokes are known to develop in sites exposed to non-unidirectional disturbed flow, such as bends and branches, whereas arterial segments that are straight and exposed
Anti-tubercular peptides: Future puissant weapon for tuberculosis therapy
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the oldest and deadliest airborne asymptomatic tropical diseases in the world, caused by M. tuberculosis (Mtb), infecting one third of the global populace. At present, the emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and extensively
When the immune system is away, biliary cancer cells may come back to play
Tumours of the biliary tract (BTC) develop from the epithelium of bile ducts located inside and outside the liver and in the gallbladder. Surgery is the only curative treatment available. However, tumours often come back after surgery
Does body mass index affect how well patients do after meniscus surgery?
Obesity is present in about 38% of adults in the United States, and as many as 67% of patients with knee injuries (including meniscus tears). Some research has shown that obese patients have worse function and more
Angiotensin II actions on distal regulatory elements promote vascular dysfunction and hypertension
Cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension (high blood pressure) and atherosclerosis (blocked blood vessels) lead to heart attacks and strokes, and are highly prevalent worldwide. Furthermore, these complications are significantly accelerated in patients with diabetes. Angiotensin II (AngII)
New approach for CO2 reduction
Research converting carbon oxide (CO2) into low-molecular-weight organic compounds is extremely important because this research can not only reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere but can also convert CO2 into useful organic compounds. And, no
A new drug to improve drug-eluting stents in coronary artery disease
Patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease often receive stent treatment in obstructed coronary arteries of the heart. Even though current generation drug-eluting stents perform very well in the short-term, concerns still exist about their long-term efficacy due
Fasting blood glucose and prostate cancer: A meta-analysis of dose-response
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer, and third leading cause of cancer deaths, in American men. So far, only a few well-established risk factors, including ageing and being racially black, are thought to be associated
Spontaneous neonatal renal vein thromboses. Which ones should be treated?
Neonatal renal vein thrombosis (RVT) is a well-known condition, the treatment of which suffers from the lack of codified protocols as consequence of absent consensual guidelines. With an incidence rate between 1.3 to 2.2 cases per 100.000
Global erosivity map shows differences between climatic regions
The underlying JRC research, published in the Nature Group’s Scientific Reports, highlights differences between climatic regions and calls for global action to protect our soils. Soil is our most important source of food. And yet, much of
Providing the evidence necessary to make informed decisions for contaminated land
The last 40 years of ‘environmental revolution’ in Europe and beyond has helped to establish comprehensive frameworks built around preventing pollution and risk-based management. After various lessons learnt, several countries, namely the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, the
Risk of malaria reemergence in Bulgaria
Malaria is a disease of high medical and social importance. Notwithstanding the efforts of WHO and national systems of public health, it is still widespread over large areas around the globe and it is a cause for
Cellular assay: bottleneck of the drug discovery process
Finding a needle in the haystack is not that difficult after all: Just use a strong magnet, and you have a good chance to get it. Picking up, among millions of different compounds, the right ones that
Designer antibody therapeutics
We inhabit a hostile environment and are susceptible to infection by current and future pathogenic organisms (foreign bodies; antigens) resulting from mutation and selection forces. Personal integrity is assured by the humoral and cellular immune system (IS)
New gibberellin signaling pathway via Ca2+ signaling
Gibberellins (GAs) are plant hormones that regulate many aspects of plant development including seed germination, stem elongation, flower induction, and anther development. Ca2+ is a ubiquitous second messenger involved in signal transduction of various environmental and developmental
Functional gene analysis to understand complex biological mechanisms in schizophrenia
Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a chronic debilitating psychiatric disorder affecting approximately 7 in 1000 people in their lifetime and ranked as one of the top 15 leading causes of disability worldwide. The symptoms of SCZ can be divided
Assessing the evidence on weight loss strategies
Weight loss and weight management is of upmost importance in our current climate of increasing rates of overweight and obesity and of associated diseases like type 2 diabetes. Here the evidence on weight loss strategies, in people
Delay of GABA switch due to early – life stress leads to developmental disorder
Early-life stress, such as child neglect and abuse, is referred as one of the most prominent risk factor causing lasting social problems, which influence later development of psychopathologies. One specific sensitive period in neural development occurs during
