Author Archives: karen
Statins and diabetes: do the benefits outweigh the risks?
Cardiovascular disease (heart attack and stroke) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Prescription cholesterol-lowering medications have been shown to lower the risks for heart attacks and stroke. In fact, roughly 28% of Americans
Bone resorption around dental implants
Implant supported dental restorations are a very common way to realize fixed or removable dentures nowadays. Implants are placed in the bone and they “glue” to the bone thanks to a biological pathway known as osseointegration. In
Assessment of anxiety: a matter of temperature?
Anxiety is an emotional response occurring when individuals are facing challenging situations or threats. This affective state promotes adaptive coping strategies and is associated with changes involving a variety of different, cross-species conserved, behavioral and physiological responses
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is a miracle fertilizer for our brain?
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is sometimes called “miracle grow for the brain” because several studies have reported that BDNF “nourishes neurons like fertilizer.” It is well-known that BDNF protects brain cells and stimulates growth of their dendrites
A rare and insidious brain vessel disorder in children with HIV infection
Over the last decade children who acquire HIV infection from their mothers are surviving longer due to improved access to health care, nutritional support and antiretroviral therapies (ART). As they live longer, complications which were previously not recognised in
In vivo imaging of immunotherapeutic glioma model
Glioblastoma remains one of the deadliest diseases faced by patients, with a median survival of less than 15 months. Therapeutic advancements in the field rely heavily on animal models, and the use of human brain tumor cells
Altered states of consciousness during sex
The term ‘altered states of consciousness’ usually means states of ‘absorption’ or ‘absorbed states’. Some call them trance. They are characterized by loss of the usual sense of self, time, and space, as a result of intense
Computational identification of plastic debris in the marine environment
The presence of plastics on the marine environment has several dangerous effects on the aquatic living organisms. Plastics have high chemical stability and are invariant with respect to the degradation agents. Their accumulation on sea surface produces
Underwater sounds of two marine protected areas in southern Brazilian waters
The collection of sounds that emanate from an environment is known as soundscape in scientific literature. Marine soundscape is based on sounds related to geophony (physical events, such as wind, precipitation, breaking waves, earthquakes), biophony (mammals, fish,
Cancer prevention guidelines are associated with lower cancer risk in low-income and African American populations
Cancer is a major public health burden as an estimated 1,685,210 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the United States in 2016. In general, African Americans and Americans with low socioeconomic status tend to have higher
Regional Alzheimer’s disease research
According to World Alzheimer Report 2015, over 46 million people live with dementia worldwide. The incidence of dementia is estimated over 9.9 million every year, and nearly half of new dementia cases (4.9 million) occurred in Asia.
The use of fingeprints available on the web to forge identity documents in Brazil
Fingerprints images available on the web have been used by criminals to forge identity documents in Brazil, sometimes printed in a reversed (mirrored) way in the documents. In this work, 100 fingerprints images downloaded from the web,
A molecular LEGO brick
Imagine that we have at our disposal a set of LEGO® construction bricks of nanometric dimensions (there are one million nanometers in one millimeter)! We would then be able to use these “nano-bricks” to construct “nano-buildings” and
Extraction residue of dried persimmon fruits shows antioxidant potential in vivo
Fruits and vegetables are useful for human health. They have bioactive constituents called “phytochemicals”, which show antioxidant activities. Most of the phytochemicals are small molecules and soluble compounds. Therefore, in vitro evaluation of the antioxidant activity of
One of the mechanisms of amyloid fibrils formation based on the sizes of folding nuclei of Aβ40 and Aβ42
Antibiotics and various advances in medical treatment have led to overall growth of life expectancy. However, along with positive aspects of prolonged life, humanity has faced a new challenge – age-related deceases. Parkinson’s disease along with Alzheimer’s
Glutathione-responsive co-assembly hydrogel for controllable drug release
Glutathione-responsive nano-vehicles have gained considerable interest because several intracellular compartments such as cytosol, mitochondria, and cell nucleus contain a high concentration of glutathione (GSH, 2-10 mM) tripeptides, which is 100-1000 times higher than that in extracellular fluids
Orphans and inflammation
Many are now well-aware of the negative impact of inflammation on our health, including cancer as well as rheumatologic, metabolic and neurologic disorders. Insults to the body either through injury (acute or chronic), or poor diet can
Infections in right-sided heart valves often leave doctors with no right answer
A normal human heart has four chambers and four valves. When these valves are working well, they stop blood from flowing backwards and are essential to good heart function. Two valves are in the right side of
NMR can now scrutinize the membrane of a living cell
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a technique devised by physicists, that has developed into many applications. The most famous one is Magnetic Resonance Imaging that is commonly used in hospitals. In the research lab, NMR is generally
