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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 16, 2014 at 7:05am

Artificial spleen cleans up blood

Device improves survival in rats after severe infections.

Magnetic nanobeads in the 'biospleen' device bind to Escherichia coli (left) and Staphylococcus aureus (right) and remove them from blood.

Researchers have developed a high-tech method to rid the body of infections — even those caused by unknown pathogens. A device inspired by the spleen can quickly clean blood of everything from Escherichia coli to Ebola, researchers report on 14 September in Nature Medicine.
In search of a way to clear any infection, a team led by Donald Ingber, a bioengineer at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering in Boston, Massachusetts, developed an artificial 'biospleen' to filter blood.
The device uses a modified version of mannose-binding lectin (MBL), a protein found in humans that binds to sugar molecules on the surfaces of more than 90 different bacteria, viruses and fungi, as well as to the toxins released by dead bacteria that trigger the immune overreaction in sepsis.

The researchers coated magnetic nanobeads with MBL. As blood enters the biospleen device, passes by the MBL-equipped nanobeads, which bind to most pathogens. A magnet on the biospleen device then pulls the beads and their quarry out of the blood, which can then be routed back into the patient.
http://www.nature.com/news/artificial-spleen-cleans-up-blood-1.15917

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 15, 2014 at 8:33am

Robot captures first images of Great Pyramid's secret chamber
An autonomous robot has transmitted the first images from inside a tiny chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt - something that has not been seen by anyone in 4,500 years.
What this robot found was 4,500-year-old hieroglyphs written in red paint, and carvings in the stone that could have been made by the stone masons at the time the chamber was being built.

"If these hieroglyphs could be deciphered they could help Egyptologists work out why these mysterious shafts were built”.
"Red-painted numbers and graffiti are very common around Giza,” added Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian from Harvard University and director of the Giza Archives at the Museum of Fine Arts in the US. "They are often masons' or work-gangs' marks, denoting numbers, dates or even the names of the gangs."

The robot was also able to get its stretchy camera in and around the mysterious empty chamber to get a look at the back of the stone door for the first time. This allowed it to film parts of the metal pins that had never been seen before, and their beautifully looped tips suggest that rather than being functional, they were probably just ornamental features.
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20141009-26154.html

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 14, 2014 at 7:23am

An interesting story of a woman who doesn't have a part of her brain!

Woman of 24 found to have no cerebellum in her brain

The discovery was made when the woman was admitted to the Chinese PLA General Hospital of Jinan Military Area Command in Shandong Province complaining of dizziness and nausea. She told doctors she'd had problems walking steadily for most of her life, and her mother reported that she hadn't walked until she was 7 and that her speech only became intelligible at the age of 6.

Doctors did a CAT scan and immediately identified the source of the problem – her entire cerebellum was missing!  The space where it should be was empty of tissue. Instead it was filled with cerebrospinal fluid, which cushions the brain and provides defence against disease.

The cerebellum's main job is to control voluntary movements and balance, and it is also thought to be involved in our ability to learn specific motor actions and speak. Problems in the cerebellum can lead to severe mental impairment, movement disorders, epilepsy or a potentially fatal build-up of fluid in the brain. However, in this woman, the missing cerebellum resulted in only mild to moderate motor deficiency, and mild speech problems such as slightly slurred pronunciation. Her doctors describe these effects as "less than would be expected", and say her case highlights the remarkable plasticity of the brain. The case highlights just how adaptable the organ is.

For more information, click on the links: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329861.900-woman-of-24-foun...

http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/08/22/brain.awu239

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 13, 2014 at 7:57am

Device that detects anaemia in 60 seconds
A simple testing device can now diagnose anaemia in just 60 seconds— a discovery that would allow inexpensive at-home self-monitoring of persons with chronic forms of the disease.
The disposable self-testing device analyzes a single droplet of blood using a chemical reagent that produces visible colour changes corresponding to different levels of anaemia.

The basic test produces results in about 60 seconds and requires no electrical power. A companion smartphone application can automatically correlate the visual results to specific blood hemoglobin levels.
"Patients could use this device in a way that's very similar to how diabetics use glucose-monitoring devices, but this will be even simpler because this is a visual-based test that doesn't require an additional electrical device to analyse the results".

Using a two-piece prototype device, the test works this way: A patient sticks a finger with a lance similar to those used by diabetics to produce a droplet of blood. The device's cap, a small vial, is then touched to the droplet, drawing in a precise amount of blood using capillary action. The cap containing the blood sample is then placed onto the body of the clear plastic test kit, which contains the chemical reagent. After the cap is closed, the device is briefly shaken to mix the blood and reagent.

"When the capillary is filled, we have a very precise volume of blood, about five microliters, which is less than a droplet - much less than what is required by other anaemia tests," explained Erika Tyburski.

Blood haemoglobin then serves as a catalyst for a reduction-oxidation reaction that takes place in the device. After about 45 seconds, the reaction is complete and the patient sees a colour ranging from green-blue to red, indicating the degree of anaemia.

A label on the device helps with interpretation of the colour or the device could be photographed with a smartphone running an application written by Georgia Tech undergraduate student Alex Weiss and graduate student William Stoy. The app automatically correlates the colour to a specific haemoglobin level and could one day be used to report the data to a physician.
The results of the one-minute test were consistent with those of the conventional analysis. The smartphone app produced the best results for measuring severe anaemia.

The test doesn't require a skilled technician or a draw of venous blood and you see the results immediately.
The device will be available to the public sometime in 2016.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 13, 2014 at 6:53am

The convergence of nanotechnology, biology, information technology, additive manufacturing, AI, new materials and robotics means we no longer have to wait for natural selection to change our lives
We Are Playing God with a Declassified Future
The Future, Declassified: Megatrends That Will Undo the World Unless We Take Action ( Book)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Future-Declassified-Megatrends-Unless/dp/...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 13, 2014 at 6:46am

I Contain Multitudes

Our bodies are a genetic patchwork, possessing variation from cell to cell. Is that a good thing?
You are an assemblage of genetically distinctive cells, some of which have radically different operating instructions.
Even though each of your cells supposedly contains a replica of the DNA in the fertilized egg that began your life, mutations, copying errors and editing mistakes began modifying that code as soon as your zygote self began to divide. In your adult body, your DNA is peppered by pinpoint mutations, riddled with repeated or rearranged or missing information, even lacking huge chromosome-sized chunks. Your data is hopelessly corrupt!

Surprised to hear this? Click on the link to find out more...
http://www.simonsfoundation.org/quanta/20140821-i-contain-multitudes/

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 13, 2014 at 5:52am

World's First Three-Dimensional Printed Car Made in Chicago
An Arizona company is the first to use 3-D printing to make a car
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/world-s-first-three-dimen...

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This news has not been confirmed at when doubts were raised about the study. But still it is a beautiful explanation of expansion theory:

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 12, 2014 at 8:51am

Understanding anemia:
A critical role for mTORC1 in erythropoiesis and anemia
Abstract

Red blood cells (RBC) must coordinate their rate of growth and proliferation with the availability of nutrients, such as iron, but the signaling mechanisms that link nutritional state to RBC growth are incompletely understood. We performed a screen for cell types that have high levels of signaling through mTORC1, a protein kinase that couples nutrient availability to cell growth. This screen revealed that reticulocytes show high levels of phosphorylated ribosomal protein S6, a downstream target of mTORC1. We found that mTORC1 activity in RBCs is regulated by dietary iron, and that genetic activation or inhibition of mTORC1 results in macrocytic or microcytic anemia, respectively. Finally, ATP competitive mTOR inhibitors reduced RBC proliferation and were lethal after treatment with phenylhydrazine, an inducer of hemolysis. These results identify the mTORC1 pathway as a critical regulator of RBC growth and proliferation, and establish that perturbations in this pathway result in anemia.

http://elifesciences.org/content/early/2014/09/09/eLife.01913#sthas...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 11, 2014 at 9:36am

The role of anti-oxidants in diabetes:
Antioxidants in Diabetes
http://www.brunswicklabs.com/blog/bid/354571/Antioxidants-in-Diabetes

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 11, 2014 at 8:07am

Scientists say ozone layer is recovering, credit phase-out of aerosol chemicals since the '80s
Earth protective but fragile ozone layer is finally starting to rebound, says a United Nations panel of scientists. Scientists hail this as rare environmental good news, demonstrating that when the world comes together it can stop a brewing ecological crisis.
http://montreal-protocol.org//new_site/en/index.php

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