Health & Medicine
Management of weight gain in tube-fed children with neurodisabilities
Due to reduced levels of physical activity in children with cerebral palsy or other neurodisabilities, there is a risk of tube-fed individuals becoming overweight or obese if their feed contains an excess of calories. Nestlé Health Science provide a nutritionally complete, lower energy formula, Peptamen® Junior 0.6, that can be used to overcome this problem. Peptamen® Junior 0.6 is a […]
The CEASE approach: A framework to tackle COVID-19 and other microbial threats
While the COVID-19 virus continues to spread in many countries worldwide, some researchers are investigating the implications of regularly using antimicrobial products and antibiotics, which could contribute to a concerning phenomenon known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Dr Teddie Rahube at Botswana International University of Science and Technology has recently developed CEASE, an approach that addresses some of the challenges associated […]
The Benefits of Exercise on the Mind
Exercise has long been advocated as a way to enhance physical health, but it has also been shown to have several benefits on the mind. More recently, research has focused on how exercise can improve cognitive function. Over the past three decades, Drs Phillip D. Tomporowski and Caterina Pesce from the University of Georgia and the University of Rome, respectively, […]
Tracking how SARS-CoV-2 mutates around the world during COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing global health crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-2 strain of coronavirus. The SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates as it spreads, and monitoring these mutations and their distribution could provide information relevant for the treatment and control of the disease. Santiago Justo Arévalo (Ricardo Palma University, Peru) and his colleagues have analysed the progress of several mutations across […]
Probing Cancer: Immunotherapy and Molecular Imaging
The Singapore-based Cancer ImmunoTherapy Imaging (CITI) programme is a Singapore-wide collaborative research group, comprising 12 research institutes. CITI’s efforts are focused on the discovery and application of peptide-based imaging probes, which target immunotherapy treatment response biomarkers. Dr Edward G Robins, Head of Radiochemistry at the Singapore Bioimaging Consortium and Deputy Director of the NUS Clinical Imaging Research Centre, alongside his […]
Viral encephalitis and virus-mediated memory disorders
Viral encephalitis is a debilitating consequence of viral infections: invasion of the brain by viruses causes an inflammation that, even months or years after recovery from the viral infection, can impair cognitive functions such as learning and memory. Prof Robyn S. Klein from Washington University School of Medicine has developed novel animal models and approaches to study virus-mediated memory disorders, […]
Metadichol® a novel nano lipid formulation
Many drugs target individual actions of a specific virus or bacteria. However, development and application of a broad-spectrum compound which targets the whole immune response would allow one therapy to have a global application for human disease. Dr P. R. Raghavan, CEO of Nanorx Inc, has invented one such dietary supplement, Metadichol®, which is thought to act via vitamin D […]
Predicting treatment resistance in schizophrenia patients
Schizophrenia is a severe and often debilitating mental disorder. While antipsychotic medications aim to alleviate the symptoms, about a third of patients with schizophrenia are treatment-resistant. Dr Olesya Ajnakina, a Research Fellow at King’s College London, combines state-of-the-art methods in statistical analyses, such as machine learning, to develop prediction models aiming to identify patients at risk of developing treatment-resistant schizophrenia, […]
Geovisualization for insights into infectious disease risk
Environmental, social, and economic factors influence infectious disease transmission and resulting risk. Using exploratory data analysis techniques can help uncover previously unknown relationships between these factors, contributing to improved public health efforts. Drs Abhishek Kala, Samuel Atkinson, and Chetan Tiwari from the University of North Texas, USA, use geovisualization to identify the spatial context and factors that are strongly associated […]
Machine learning paves the way to advances in genome sequencing
Genome sequencing platforms are transforming the field of genetic disease research as they offer a closer look at human genes and DNA for clinical diagnostics. Based on machine learning methods, DeepSimulator provides simulated datasets to train and test sequencing analytical tools while WaveNano has innovated the process of translating a raw signal sequence into a DNA read. Dr Xin Gao […]