Category Archives: Research
Problematic computer use in adolescence
Problematic computer use is the use of computer technology that may be health-endangering and may cause immediate or later negative physical or psychological health outcomes or disturb well-being in users. It covers plenty of areas, for example,
Metabolism and pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma
Tumors are named according to the organ or the tissue whose cells undergo biological derangement causing the loss of the control mechanisms that normally limit cell growth. Therefore, breast tumors derives from the cells of the ducts of
“Observational Medicine” should be replaced by “Real Science”
Are female hormones good or bad? “Can Statins” cause diabetes? What causes a heart attack and how do risk factors cause a clot in the coronary artery? Medical research is expensive and requires thousands of patients to
Urine lipoarabinomannan assays for paediatric tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide with 2 billion people being latently infected and 9 million people diagnosed with active disease every year. Infection with TB is also a major contributor to childhood
How and why do onomatopoeias change? A new perspective about the spatial conceptualization
Have you ever tried to read the cartoon strips without the onomatopoeias? It has been shown that they are fundamental for the comprehension of the text and they also can help us to understand comics in a
Small or big, brain cells don’t like protein gunk that lead to diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s
An interdisiciplinary study by scientists at Trinity College Dublin (TCD, Ireland) have answered a hotly debated question in the neurodegenerative diseases research area: “Which protein aggregate form is the primary pathogenic agent in neurodegenerative diseases – (i) the prefibrillar oligomeric
A complete molecular diagnostic test on a compact disc
A challenge in health diagnosis today involves the rapid analysis of genomic information in tests called molecular diagnostic assays. These tests can analyze a person’s bodily fluids to determine the cause of sickness, and can detect a
Developing a sense of direction
Nervous systems continuously perform computations to create thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of the world. Circuits composed of neurons, which are the specialized cells of the nervous system, execute these calculations. To do so, neurons in a circuit receive input
Kenyan men’s fears about family planning
Despite increases in recent years in the number of women wanting to avoid pregnancy, the use of modern contraceptives in sub-Saharan Africa remains low. For example, in Kenya about three-quarters of married women aged 15–49 want to
Recharged autologous stem cells to combat cartilage defects in osteoarthritic patients
Inflammation is one of the greatest challenges for physicians and researchers working to find new strategies to regenerate patients’ damaged and deteriorated cartilage. Although humans have stem cells which can aid in many tissue repair processes throughout
Arsenic in drinking water and suicide
It is well-known that micro or trace minerals, like arsenic, aluminium, mercury and others are essential for good health. However, in spite of the fact that our body requires a tiny amount of arsenic in order to
Tunicates : Can the study of obscure marine animals shed light on evolution?
Scientists agree that the current biological diversity on earth is the result of evolution: present life forms evolved from their ancestors by progressive modifications. The shape and behavior of an animal or a plant – what scientists
The benefits of epidural analgesia in heart surgery
Epidural analgesia is a common procedure performed by anesthesiologists to relieve pain during childbirth or in surgery. It is performed by inserting a small catheter in a specific area of the spine known as the epidural space,
Liver X receptor beta, the link between thyroid hormone regulation and the browning of white fat
Everyone agrees that when our intake of sugar, fat and protein exceeds the body’s need for nutrition, excess is stored as fat. Fat in the form of white adipocytes is the body’s reserve of energy, which is
A combination therapy to induce apoptosis in difficult-to-treat cancer cells
The presence of activated PI3K-AKT is a major obstacle to successful chemotherapies. Since PI3K-AKT is activated in many healthy tissues, chemical inhibitors of PI3K-AKT inevitably have many unwanted side effects. By using a cholesterol-targeting drug called beta-cyclodextrin
A new approach to measure and evaluate inhibitory activity against protein glycation during heating
Glycation is the addition of a sugar moiety into a protein molecule occurring during Maillard reaction. It takes place both endogenously in the body and exogenously in food products. So-called advanced glycation end products (AGEs), lead to
How does phytohormone abscisic acid regulates plant flowering time?
Optimum of flowering time is most important for modern agricultural production system, especially for crops yield and seeds quality. Furthermore, during the lifecycle of a plant, one of the most attractive biological processes in plant research field
Processes mediating contaminant removal in Fe0/H2O systems: Coping with a highly dynamic system
The use of adsorption processes for water treatment purposes is a very old stuff. According to Egyptian and Sanskrit inscriptions, water was treated using filtration as early as 200 B.C. Its working principle is quite simple: its
Whole-cell computational models can predict how genes influence behavior
Since the early 1900’s, scientists have known that cells are composed of multiple components, including small molecules, DNA, RNA, and protein. Over the past fifty years, scientists have systematically measured these individual components and their interactions. Despite
Properties of magnetic nanocomposites for biomedical applications
Polymer nanocomposites have been receiving a lot of attention in the field of biomedical engineering. These composite materials, which consist of a polymer as the matrix and nanoparticles (nano-sized particles) as fillers, offer the opportunity for the
