SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is an airborne disease transmitted via aerosols, which are spread from the oral and nasal cavities—the mouth and the nose. In addition to the well-known division and spread of the virus in the cells of the respiratory tract, SARS-CoV-2 is also known to infect the cells of the [...]
AI-enabled imaging of the retina's network of veins and arteries can accurately predict cardiovascular disease and death, without the need for blood tests or blood pressure measurement, finds research published online in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. As such, it paves the way for a highly effective, non-invasive screening test for people at medium to [...]
Researchers from King's College London have shown that when brain cells are directly exposed to blood taken from COVID-19 patients with delirium, there is an increase in cell death and a decrease in the generation of new brain cells. Delirium represents a state of confusion indicating that, in these patients, the COVID-19 infection had [...]
Bristol-led team uses nanomaterials made from seaweed to create a strong battery separator, paving the way for greener and more efficient energy storage. Sodium-metal batteries (SMBs) are one of the most promising high-energy and low-cost energy storage systems for the next-generation of large-scale applications. However, one of the major impediments to the [...]
Breakthrough medical technology like mRNA vaccines rely on tiny nanoparticles to deliver medicine to cells. A new device will help drug manufacturers and evaluators like the FDA more precisely measure genetic payloads to evaluate drug effectiveness. An important component of the vaccines protecting people against SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants are lipid nanoparticles, or [...]
A Brazilian study published in the journal PNAS describes some of the effects infection by SARS-CoV-2 can have on the central nervous system. A preliminary version (not yet peer-reviewed) posted in 2020 was one of the first to show that the virus that causes COVID-19 can infect brain cells, especially astrocytes. It also broke new ground [...]
A new drug designed by scientists at Scripps Research can turn the COVID-19 virus into a harbinger of its own doom. The drug, NMT5, described in Nature Chemical Biology on September 29, 2022, coats SARS-CoV-2 with chemicals that can temporarily alter the human ACE2 receptor—the molecule the virus normally latches onto to infect cells. That means [...]
Brain stimulation paired with a nose spray comprised of nanoparticles can increase recovery after ischemic stroke in an animal model, according to scientists from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and other universities in China. The nasal spray is a non-invasive means of delivering magnetic nanoparticles into the brain that, according to the research, can enhance the effects of [...]
Increasing drug resistance could leave us powerless to fight infections we now consider routine, and scientists are urgently searching for answers. It was just a urinary tract infection (UTI). Helen Osment, a fundraiser from Hertfordshire, had had them before and she knew the symptoms. When she called the doctor with pain, a burning sensation and blood [...]
Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST, President Yang Kook) Professor Hongsoo Choi’s team of the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering collaborated with Professor Sung-Won Kim’s team at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Catholic University of Korea, and Professor Bradley J. Nelson’s team at ETH Zurich to develop a technology that produces more [...]
