Although largely paralyzed, ALS patients can communicate through eye-tracking devices because they retain eye movement until the disease's late stages. Yet, how some motor neurons resist ALS to allow for this movement has been a mystery.
* This article was originally published here
Tuesday, 25 June 2019
Predictors of cognitive recovery following mild to severe traumatic brain injury
Researchers have shown that higher intelligence and younger age are predictors of greater cognitive recovery 2-5 years post-mild to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). In contrast, injury severity, as measured by the duration of post-traumatic amnesia, was not associated with greater or worse long-term cognitive recovery, as supported by a study published in Journal of Neurotrauma.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Perovskite solar cells tested for real-world performance—in the lab
It was only ten years ago that metal-halide perovskites were discovered to be photovoltaic materials. Today, perovskite solar cells are almost as efficient as the best conventional silicon ones, and there is much hope that they will become a highly efficient and low-cost alternative, as they can be manufactured by rather simple and fast methods like printing.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
GM to upgrade assembly plants ahead of new pickup, SUV lines
General Motors Co. has announced it's investing more than $4.2 billion in assembly plants in Indiana, Michigan and Texas to prepare for the launch of its next generation of pickups and SUVs.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Artificial intelligence learns to recognize nerve cells by their appearance
Is it possible to understand the brain? Science is still far from answering this question. However, since researchers have started training artificial intelligence on neurobiological analyses, it seems at least possible to reconstruct the cellular structure of a brain. New artificial neural networks developed by the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology and Google AI can now even recognize and classify nerve cells independently based on their appearance.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Symbiotic upcycling: Turning 'low value' compounds into biomass
Plants use light energy from the sun for photosynthesis to turn carbon dioxide (CO2) into biomass. Animals can't do that. Therefore, some of them have teamed up with bacteria that carry out a process called chemosynthesis. It works almost like photosynthesis, only that it uses chemical energy instead of light energy. Many animals rely on chemosynthetic bacteria to supply them with food. The symbionts turn CO2 into biomass and are subsequently digested by their host. Kentron, a bacterium nourishing the ciliate Kentrophoros, was thought to be 'just another' chemosynthetic symbiont. However, recent results indicate that it is not.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Hubble finds tiny 'electric soccer balls' in space, helps solve interstellar mystery
Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the presence of electrically-charged molecules in space shaped like soccer balls, shedding light on the mysterious contents of the interstellar medium (ISM) - the gas and dust that fills interstellar space.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Study supports optimal threshold for diagnosing COPD
A new study provides evidence to support a simple measurement for diagnosing clinically significant airflow obstruction, the key characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. The study found that a 70% ratio of two indicators of lung function proved as or more accurate than other thresholds for predicting COPD-related hospitalizations and deaths.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Teaching robots what humans want
Told to optimize for speed while racing down a track in a computer game, a car pushes the pedal to the metal … and proceeds to spin in a tight little circle. Nothing in the instructions told the car to drive straight, and so it improvised.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Puppy love: Choosing the perfect pooch poses challenges similar to dating
Psychologists at Indiana University who study how people pick their spouses have turned their attention to another important relationship: choosing a canine companion.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Researchers explore social cognitive deficits in progressive multiple sclerosis
A recent study by Kessler Foundation researchers provided new findings about the nature of social cognitive deficits in the population with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The article, "Cognitive but Not Affective Theory of Mind Deficits in Progressive MS", was epublished on June 10, 2019 by the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. The authors are Katie Lancaster, Ph.D., Eric M. Stone, and Helen Genova, Ph.D., of Kessler Foundation.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Robotic, flexible needle for more effective cancer treatment
Wood wasps use their stingers to drill into wood and lay their eggs inside trees. The resulting damage to wood that may end up as furniture and other structures in our homes might lead most of us to think of them as pests. Not so for the medical field, for which wood wasps are an inspiration. In their quest for safer surgical procedures, scientists have created probes that mimic the way this insect's stinger burrows into wood.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
New therapy promotes vascular repair following stroke
Following a stroke, antibodies that inhibit the signaling molecule Nogo-A can help repair blood vessels in the affected brain regions. This also promotes the regaining of motor functions, researchers at the University of Zurich have shown in a mouse model. The study opens up new avenues for treatment.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Why money cannot 'buy' housework
If a man is handy with the vacuum cleaner, isn't averse to rustling up a lush family meal most nights after he's put on the washing machine having popped into the supermarket on his way home then it's more than likely his partner will have her own bank account.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Playing 'tag': Tracking movement of young oysters
A new publication in the journal Estuaries and Coasts investigates the use of a fluorescent dye to track movements of young oysters. The publication, "Field mark-recapture of calcein-stained larval oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in a freshwater-dominated estuary", provides new knowledge on methods for tracking oysters in low salinity environments common to coastal waters, particularly in the northern Gulf of Mexico. This information is important to understand where oysters settle and grow compared to locations of parent stocks and to guide management practices of oysters or any marine species with larval stages that live in the water column.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Jump in wildfires means smoke's health impact will spread
Climate change in the Western U.S. means more intense and frequent wildfires churning out waves of smoke that scientists say will affect tens of millions of people and cause premature deaths to spike.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Alzheimer's disease: Sex affects tau accumulation in the brain
The strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is the apolipoprotein E type 4 allele (ApoE ε4). Research presented by Manish Paranjpe at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) used positron emission tomography (PET) to show that women who are ApoE ε4 carriers and already experiencing mild cognitive impairment are more susceptible than men to tau accumulation in the brain.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
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