Faith Inspired

Image above: Bullwinkle inspired. Alas, still no rabbit.

Hard working researchers inspire my faith that we can overcome our self-limiting ignorance, institutional inertia, corporate avarice, and retro-dark-ages political shortsightedness. Here are just a few recent postings:

Image above: The colors in this cell culture show action taken by pancreas cancer when it recruits harmful cells to the tumor that suppress the body’s natural immune system. Credit: University of Rochester Medical Center.

Pancreatic tumors may require a one-two-three punch, University of Rochester Medical Center, medicalxpress.com,15 Jan 2018.

“One of the many difficult things about pancreatic cancer is that tumors are resistant to most treatments because of their unique density and cell composition. However, in a new Wilmot Cancer Institute study, scientists discovered that a three-drug combination can simultaneously target the cancer cells as well as the other harmful, inflammatory cells within the tumor, to improve survival.”

“The research builds on previous scientific data from the lab of David C. Linehan, M.D., and may define a more personalized approach to treating pancreatic cancer. Ultimately, physicians will use information from the pancreas tumor biopsy about volume and predominance of cancer cells and non-cancerous inflammatory cells that impact the immune system, and then plan the best treatment.”

"People with pancreatic cancer don't have 10 years to wait for the next new drug," said Linehan, a surgical oncologist, director of clinical operations at Wilmot, and the Seymour I. Schwartz Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

"Our approach is based on evidence that this disease has particular characteristics involving both the tumor and the immune response," he said, "and we believe that treatment must address all sides of the problem."

Please go here for the whole story.

Image above: Charlie Brown, junior king worrywart.

Anxiety: An Early Indicator of Alzheimer’s Disease?, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 18 Jan 2018.

“Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative condition that causes the decline of cognitive function and the inability to carry out daily life activities. Past studies have suggested depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms may be predictors of AD’s progression during its “preclinical” phase, during which time brain deposits of fibrillar amyloid and pathological tau accumulate in a patient’s brain. This phase can occur more than a decade before a patient’s onset of mild cognitive impairment. Investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital examined the association of brain amyloid beta and longitudinal measures of depression and depressive symptoms in cognitively normal, older adults. Their findings, published today by The American Journal of Psychiatry, suggest that higher levels of amyloid beta may be associated with increasing symptoms of anxiety in these individuals. These results support the theory that neuropsychiatric symptoms could be an early indicator of AD.”

“Rather than just looking at depression as a total score, we looked at specific symptoms such as anxiety. When compared to other symptoms of depression such as sadness or loss of interest, anxiety symptoms increased over time in those with higher amyloid beta levels in the brain,” said first author Nancy Donovan, MD, a geriatric psychiatrist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “This suggests that anxiety symptoms could be a manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease prior to the onset of cognitive impairment. If further research substantiates anxiety as an early indicator, it would be important for not only identifying people early on with the disease, but also, treating it and potentially slowing or preventing the disease process early on.” As anxiety is common in older people, rising anxiety symptoms may prove to be most useful as a risk marker in older adults with other genetic, biological or clinical indicators of high AD risk.”

Please go here for the whole story.

Image above: UCF researchers have developed a way to make graphene absorb more light (Credit: Paul Fleet/Deposit photos)

UCF researchers have developed a way to make graphene absorb more light, Michael Irving, New Atlas, 14 Jan 2018.

“Graphene, the 2D wonder material made up of a sheet of carbon one atom thick, has a long list of superpowers, but one thing it hasn't been great at is absorbing light. Now, a study from the University of Central Florida (UCF) has found a way to boost graphene's light absorption, allowing it to make better use of that energy.”

“Normally, graphene can only absorb less than two percent of the visible light spectrum. In attempting to boost that statistic, previous studies have embedded metal particles onto sheets of graphene, but that just resulted in the metal itself absorbing the light with little benefit to the material underneath.”

“In the new study, the UCF team decided to alter the shape of the graphene but not the composition of the material. To do that, the researchers first placed it on a polymer substrate, then stamped a nanoscale pattern into the graphene. That created an optical cavity in the material, so that when light hits it, the waves bounce back and forth between the faces of the graphene. That lets the material absorb far more of the light than it normally would.”

“The researchers say that their design allowed a single layer of graphene to absorb more than 45 percent of the light that hits it, but with further optimization they believe that figure could reach almost 90 percent.”

Please go here for the whole story.