Monthly Archives: July 2019
Unlocking the gating mechanism of the piezo1 channel with a molecular key
Mechanosensitive Piezo channels are large membrane proteins present at the cell membrane of eukaryotic cells. These channels open in response to the presence of mechanical forces such as frictions that occur when extracellular fluids flow against the
New variants of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus with large deletions in the spike protein, identified in the United States
The Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDV) is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus that belongs to the genus Alphacoronavirus. This virus is known to only infect pigs and causes acute diarrhea, vomiting, and generally has a mortality
Mechanical vibrations can indicate if a fracture is healing
One of the most critical issues in orthopaedics is the development of a procedure for assessing fracture healing in an objective way and by means of a non-invasive approach, replacing the actual gold standard based on X-rays.
Determining the optimum grain size is critical for invasive species distribution models
Invasive species are the organisms that cause significant economic or ecological damage in their non-native environment. Invasive species are considered the second biggest threat to global biodiversity after habitat degradation. These species threaten the stability and functioning
5 best ways to improve your academic writing skills online
Writing can be intimidating, and most students cite writing as the most challenging and their least favorite part of the college or university experience. Academic writing is a skill like any other, and just as you need
Cells with an appetite: munching at a single-cell level
Phagocytosis is defined as the receptor-mediated uptake of large particulate matter. This process is particularly efficient in specialized immune cells such as macrophages, neutrophils and dendritic cells. These cells constitute the first line of defense against invading
Large animal models for osteochondral regeneration
Due to the lacking of a blood supply and the low cellular density of articular cartilage, this hard tissue has a limited healing capacity. Therefore, focal traumatic events causing cartilage defects rarely resolve spontaneously or are usually
Thermo- and soluto-capillarity: Passive and active drops as micro-fluidic carriers or reactors
Why study drop (or bubble) motions? Drops can be seen free, hanging, suspended in air, sessile, aggregating, coalescing, disintegrating/splitting or spreading in nature, in engineering processing or at home. Think about dew, fogs with drops of diameters
Frac-seq uncovers widespread RNA dysregulation in severe asthma
Asthma is a common chronic disease consisting of constriction and inflammation of the airways as well as structural changes known as remodelling (Fig. 1). 5-10% of patients have severe asthma, whereby symptoms persist despite regular and correct
Increased time incongruence between imagined and actual walking in frail older adults
Mental chronometry is commonly used to evaluate motor imagery ability. Mental chronometry measures imagined time required for movement. Smaller differences between imagined and actual times suggest higher motor imagery. Imagined and actual times for movement tend to
Talking about childhood music: A twin study
To what extent do childhood experiences of music practice influence thinking about music later in life? We could get an idea about this if we talk about childhood music memories while physiological recordings are made concomitantly. If we observe that there are clear
Pursuit of a genuine effect of acupuncture: development of placebo acupuncture needles
Acupuncture has been used to treat a wide range of health conditions. The efficacy of acupuncture has not conclusively been established because only randomized control trials using single-blind needles have been reported. Single blinding is problematic because
How do we navigate a world with deep temporal structure?
Navigating our dynamic but structured environment is an essential part of everyday life. For example, when reading this sentence, we pre-empt the context and purpose based on our internal representation of the world and actively sample it
A DNA repair gene, OGG1, polymorphism affects relapse risk of acute myeloid leukemia
Approximately 80% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients can achieve complete remission, but around half of them relapse within five years. Defining the mechanism of relapse is essential to improve the prognosis of AML. Recently, a clonal
How to stain E-selectin ligands in tumor tissue
Cancer affects millions of people around the world. Nowadays they have more chances to survive, but still, the most frightful scenario are metastases. Few patients with metastases survive, and there is an unmet clinical need for new
Milk and beef: Do production enhancing hormones pose a health risk?
After World War II, a sharp increase in demand for beef and dairy products, coupled with a burgeoning veterinary pharmaceutical industry, led to a number of changes in animal husbandry, including a reliance upon exogenous hormones to
Heat, diet and lifestyles control longevity in animals and man
The inactivation of the heat shock gene called Sirtuin 1 (Sirt 1) is associated with many chronic diseases such as diabetes, non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative diseases. Factors such as body temperature
Control of doping in racing pigeons
Pigeon racing is considered a popular sport in several countries such as Belgium, England, Netherlands, Portugal, Japan, Taiwan and South Africa. In all these countries, pigeon racing is a federated sport and racings take place on a
Chemical toxicity study of some Algerian medicinal plants
About 65 to 80% of the world’s population use traditional medicine for their primary health WHO according to the WHO report. However, the use of herbal medicines has come under scrutiny due to their perceived long-term toxicity
Molecular targeted therapy in alveolar soft part sarcoma
Alveolar soft part sarcoma is a malignant and rare tumor that includes about 1% of all STS (soft tissue sarcoma), and usually occurs in adolescents and young adults. This type of cancer has tendency toward distant metastasis
