195 articles from TUESDAY 11.2.2020

DIY tools TalkBox and SenseBox help people with disabilities to communicate

Researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) have developed do-it-yourself (DIY) assistive technology prototypes that are revolutionizing how people with disabilities can access tools that will help them interact with the world. The tools are effective in different cultural contexts and were developed in close consultation with people with disabilities. A future step is to...

DNA misfolding in white blood cells increases risk for type 1 diabetes

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers at Penn Medicine found, in mice, that changes in DNA sequence can trigger the chromosomes to misfold in a way that puts one at a heightened risk for Type 1 diabetes. The study, published today in Immunity, revealed that differences in DNA sequences dramatically changed how the DNA was folded inside the nucleus, ultimately affecting the regulation -- the...

Duchenne muscular dystrophy diagnosis improved by simple accelerometers

Testing for Duchenne muscular dystrophy can require specialized equipment, invasive procedures and high expense, but measuring changes in muscle function and identifying compensatory walking gait could lead to earlier detection. Researchers present a relative coupling coefficient, which can be used to quantify the factors involved in the human gait and more accurately screen for the disorder. They...

Frailty can affect how well older adults fare following emergency surgery

A new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society sought to gain more information about how frailty affects older adults in the months after surgery. The research team wanted to test their theory that these people would have a higher risk for death a year after surgery, have higher rates of being sent to long-term care facilities rather than to their homes, and have poorer health one...

Inquiry-based labs give physics students experimental edge

New Cornell University research shows that traditional physics labs, which strive to reinforce the concepts students learn in lecture courses, can actually have a negative impact on students. At the same time, nontraditional, inquiry-based labs that encourage experimentation can improve student performance and engagement without lowering exam scores.

Local genetic adaption helps sorghum crop hide from witchweed

Sorgum crops in areas where the parasite witchweed is common have locally adapted to have mutations in a particular gene, which helps the plant resist the parasite. A new study led by researchers at Penn State reveals the effects of this mutation, as well as other genes that might confer parasite resistance.

Long-distance skiers may have 'motor reserve' that can delay onset of Parkinson's disease

To better understand the relationship between physical activity and Parkinson's Disease (PD) investigators in Sweden analyzed medical records of nearly 200,000 long-distance skiers who took part in the Vasaloppet cross-country ski race. They established that a physically active lifestyle is associated with close to a 30% reduced risk for PD, which might be explained by a motor reserve among the...

Making 3-D printing smarter with machine learning

3-D printing is often touted as the future of manufacturing. However it has a high degree of error, and manufacturers often need many iterations of a print before they get it right. A team of researchers from USC Viterbi School of Engineering is tackling this problem, with a new set of machine learning algorithms and a software tool called PrintFixer, improving print accuracy by 50 percent or...

New measure of biological age can predict health risks

People age in different ways. Biological age is a metric that scientists use to predict health risks, the relevance of which can be enhanced by combining different markers. Particularly important markers are frailty and the epigenetic clock, write researchers from Karolinska Institutet in a study published in eLife.

New research shows how the malaria parasite grows and multiplies

Scientists have made a major breakthrough in understanding how the parasite that causes malaria is able to multiply at such an alarming rate, which could be a vital clue in discovering how it has evolved, and how it can be stopped. For the first time, scientists have shown how certain molecules play an essential role in the rapid reproduction of parasite cells, which cause this deadly disease.

New synthesis methods enhance 3D chemical space for drug discovery

After helping develop a new approach for organic synthesis -- carbon-hydrogen functionalization -- scientists at Emory University are now showing how this approach may apply to drug discovery. Nature Catalysis published their most recent work -- a streamlined process for making a three-dimensional scaffold of keen interest to the pharmaceutical industry.

Novel drug therapy shows promise for quality, quantity of kidneys available for transplant

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (UH), Cleveland Clinic and Lifebanc (a Northeast Ohio organ-procurement organization) have developed a new way to preserve donated kidneys -- a method that could extend the number and quality of kidneys available for transplant, saving more people with end-stage renal disease, more...