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NASA's launch of the Mars Science Laboratory -- hampered by technical difficulties and cost overruns -- has been delayed until the fall of 2011, NASA officials said at a news conference Thursday in Washington.
A team of scientists has leveraged artificial intelligence to train computers to keep up with the massive amounts of X-ray data taken at the Advanced Photon Source.
Researchers have unveiled a new simulator for robotic cutting that can accurately reproduce the forces acting on a knife as it slices through common foodstuffs, such as fruit and vegetables. The system could also simulate cutting through human tissue, offering potential applications in surgical robotics.
A team of researchers has developed novel approaches using computer vision and deep learning to resolve the problem of low-level vision in videos caused by rain and night-time conditions, as well as improve the accuracy of 3D human pose estimation in videos.
Engineers made a pneumatic RAM chip using microfluidic valves instead of electronic transistors. The valves remain sealed against a pressure differential even when disconnected from an air supply line, creating trapped pressure differentials that function as memories and maintain the states of a robot's actuators. Dense arrays of these valves can perform advanced operations and […]
Researchers have developed a microswimmer that appears to defy the laws of fluid dynamics: their model, consisting of two beads that are connected by a linear spring, is propelled by completely symmetrical oscillations.
Researchers have successfully developed a 'speech neuroprosthesis' that has enabled a man with severe paralysis to communicate in sentences, translating signals from his brain to the vocal tract directly into words that appear as text on a screen.
More and more companies are using chatbots in customer services. Due to advances in artificial intelligence and natural language processing, chatbots are often indistinguishable from humans when it comes to communication. But should companies tell customers they are communicating with machines and not with humans? Researchers investigated. Their research found that consumers tend to react […]
When there is a gas leak in a large building or at an industrial site, human firefighters currently need to go in with gas sensing instruments. Finding the gas leak may take considerable time, while they are risking their lives. Researchers have now developed the first swarm of tiny - and hence very safe - […]
Researchers used artificial intelligence to obtain a more objective understanding of cell growth and division without preconceived assumptions. Using a deep-learning neural network, they were able to more accurately model the complex processes that affect cell size over time. This work may lead to advances in microbiology and industrial production of microorganisms.
Engineers have created an insect-scale robot that can swerve and pivot with the agility of a cheetah, giving it the ability to traverse complex terrain and quickly avoid unexpected obstacles. Small, robust robots like these could be ideal for conducting search and rescue operations or investigating other hazardous situations, such as scoping out potential gas […]
Some neuroscience theories suggest the human brain operates best 'at the edge of chaos'. Now scientists have found that keeping a nanowire network at the edge of becoming chaotic is the best state for it to produce useful signals to solve problems.
A new study unveils a computer vision technique for giving machines a more intuitive sense for what will happen next by leveraging higher-level associations between people, animals, and objects.
Prior studies have investigated alternative approaches to pain reduction in burn injury patients that focus on distraction, such as music, hypnosis, toys, and virtual reality (VR). A research team has now reported the use of smartphone-based VR games during dressing changes in pediatric patients with burn injuries.
Goodbye, bulky components and connectors: A team of scientists has now found a new way to exploit the principles of spiders' joints to create lightweight robots.
A team of scientists has developed millimeter-sized robots that can be controlled using magnetic fields to perform highly maneuverable and dexterous manipulations. This could pave the way to possible future applications in biomedicine and manufacturing.
Researchers have discovered a new and more efficient computing method for pairing the reliability of a classical computer with the strength of a quantum system.
Humans expect that AI is benevolent and trustworthy. A new study reveals that at the same time humans are unwilling to cooperate and compromise with machines. They even exploit them.
Vector valued functions are often encountered in machine learning, computer graphics and computer vision algorithms. They are particularly useful for […] The post A Gentle Introduction To Vector Valued Functions appeared first on Machine Learning Mastery.
Integral calculus was one of the greatest discoveries of Newton and Leibniz. Their work independently led to the proof, and […] The post Differential and Integral Calculus – Differentiate with Respect to Anything appeared first on Machine Learning Mastery.
It is often desirable to study functions that depend on many variables. Multivariate calculus provides us with the tools to […] The post A Gentle Introduction to Multivariate Calculus appeared first on Machine Learning Mastery.
The derivative defines the rate at which one variable changes with respect to another. It is an important concept that […] The post Applications of Derivatives appeared first on Machine Learning Mastery.
Many areas of calculus require an understanding of continuous functions. The characteristics of continuous functions, and the study of points […] The post A Gentle Introduction to Continuous Functions appeared first on Machine Learning Mastery.
Indeterminate forms are often encountered when evaluating limits of functions, and limits in turn play an important role in mathematics […] The post A Gentle Introduction to Indeterminate Forms and L’Hospital’s Rule appeared first on Machine Learning Mastery.
Optimization, as one of the core processes in many machine learning algorithms, relies on the use of derivatives in order […] The post The Power, Product and Quotient Rules appeared first on Machine Learning Mastery.
Many machine learning algorithms involve an optimization process for different purposes. Optimization refers to the problem of minimizing or maximizing […] The post Derivative of the Sine and Cosine appeared first on Machine Learning Mastery.
The slope of a line, and its relationship to the tangent line of a curve is a fundamental concept in […] The post A Gentle Introduction to Slopes and Tangents appeared first on Machine Learning Mastery.
One of the most frequently used functions in machine learning and data science algorithms are polynomials or functions involving powers […] The post A Gentle Introduction to Derivatives of Powers and Polynomials appeared first on Machine Learning Mastery.
By John P. Desmond, Editor, AI Trends SoftBank has stopped production of its humanoid robot, named Pepper, and is downsizing its robotics staff from an acquisition in France. Some observers saw that in putting a human-looking robot on the market, SoftBank suggested that the robot could display more human intelligence than it was actually capable of, creating unreasonable expectations. Production of […]
By John P. Desmond, Editor, AI Trends The last-mile delivery market for autonomous delivery robots is poised to make a comeback, with startups raising money and partnerships working to get needed permission from local governments. The autonomous vehicle delivery market was interrupted in 2017, when the city of San Francisco instituted a ban. Some pedestrians had complained […]
By AI Trends Staff AI is at the center of efforts to clean up space junk—objects in space that no longer serve a purpose and pose risk of collisions with satellites and spacecrafts—from funding from the European Space Agency, to projects involving big tech firms to startup efforts. Here is a review of what’s happening. […]
By AI Trends Staff Humans are good at the creative side of content marketing, telling stories that resonate with customers, using gut feel to decide what to publish next. Strategic thinking may involve keyword research, topic selection, and performance tracking. A new generation of tools tapping AI and machine learning is coming along to help […]
By Lance Eliot, the AI Trends Insider There is the old saying that you ought to not look in the kitchen when you go to some restaurants or eateries for a bite to eat. When you see how the food is being prepared, it might just make you sick to your stomach. You can apply this […]
By John P. Desmond, AI Trends Editor Twenty-seven years to the day from when he founded Amazon in 1994, Jeff Bezos last week stepped away as CEO and handed the reins to Andy Jassy, who has led Amazon Web Services (AWS) since its inception in 2003. What this means for the future of AI at […]
By John P. Desmond, AI Trends Editor The move to help people get more control over their personal data—especially the less wealthy—which for years has been a key focus of Dr. Alex Pentland, Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT, still has a way to go, but it is moving along. “The big problem […]
By AI Trends Staff Machine learning has the potential to automate many more business processes than are currently automated in enterprise software, based on all the previous generations of software development methods. That is a suggestion put forward by Claus Jepsen, chief technology officer at Unit4, an ERP software supplier based in Denmark. “Based on […]
By AI Trends Staff When US regulators announced a $400 million fine to Citigroup last fall, citing “several longstanding deficiencies” and operational lapses, they teed up the opportunity to suppliers of compliance management software, especially those incorporating AI. The Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said that the bank required “comprehensive corrective actions” […]
By Lance Eliot, the AI Trends Insider Imagine a scenario involving a coy bit of spy craft. A friend of yours wants to write down a secret and pass along the note to you. There is dire concern that an undesirable interloper might intercept the note. As such, the secret is first encrypted before being […]
In a new study scientists reveal yet another reason to keep up on dental hygiene. Bacteria that cause a common yet largely preventable gum infection may also play a role in Alzheimer’s disease. The discovery also offers hope for a treatment that could slow neurodegeneration.
“There were many clues in the [features of Alzheimer’s disease] that an infection is at work,” said Casey Lynch, an entrepreneur and co-founder of Cortexyme, a biotech company headquartered at the Verily Life Sciences campus in South San Francisco, who led the new research. “Many of the genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s are related to immune system function,” she added, which suggests “immune system dysfunction might put people more at risk.”
Alzheimer’s disease, an irreversible and progressive brain disorder that leads to memory loss and diminished thinking skills, affects at least 5 million Americans. Clumps of a brain protein known as amyloidplaques are a hallmark sign of the disease. Billions of research dollars have gone towards finding a treatment that destroys these mind-robbing masses. But there’s still no cure.
“Not enough people are asking what is upstream of the plaques … and [brain] inflammation,” said Lynch, who has a background in Alzheimer’s research and was frustrated by the string of failed therapies for the disease. Nearly six years ago, Lynch received a call from Stephen Dominy, a psychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco, who had studied the link between HIV and dementia.
“I think I’ve found a bacterial cause of Alzheimer’s,” Dominy, who co-founded Cortexyme with Lynch and now serves as the company’s Chief Scientific Officer, told her. Dominy had spent about 15 years searching for infections that might lead to Alzheimer’s until evidence for a bacterium known as P. gingivalis became “undeniable,” according to Lynch. P. gingivalis causes periodontitis, an infection that destroys the gums and can lead to tooth loss.
When the team examined the brains and cerebrospinal fluid of Alzheimer’s patients, they found DNA from the bacterium. They also discovered bacterial enzymes called gingipains that destroy brain cells were present, too. And when they watched P. gingivalis infections play out in mice, it triggered neurodegeneration in the hippocampus, a brain structure central to memory. It also led to Alzheimer’s hallmark amyloid beta plaque production and inflammation, the researchers discovered.
The scientists then designed and created a new molecule that blocks the gingipain enzymes. The antibiotic reduced the amount of bacteria in infected mice and stopped the formation of amyloid beta plaques while reducing inflammation, the team reports Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.
Bacteria in the lab of Prof. Ron Milo of the Weizmann Institute of Science have not just sworn off sugar – they have stopped eating all of their normal solid food, existing instead on carbon dioxide (CO2) from their environment. That is, they were able to build all of their biomass from air. This feat, which involved nearly a decade of rational design, genetic engineering and a sped-up version of evolution in the lab, was reported this week in Cell. The findings point to means of developing, in the future, carbon-neutral fuels.
The study began by identifying crucial genes for the process of carbon fixation – the way plants take carbon from CO2 for the purpose of turning it into such biological molecules as protein, DNA, etc. The research team added and rewired the needed genes. They found that many of the “parts” for the machinery that were already present in the bacterial genome could be used as is. They also inserted a gene that allowed the bacteria to get energy from a readily available substance called formate that can be produced directly from electricity and air and which is apt to “give up” electrons to the bacteria.
Just giving the bacteria the “means of production” was not enough, it turned out, for them to make the switch. There was still a need for another trick to get the bacteria to use this machinery properly, and this involved a delicate balancing act. Together with Roee Ben-Nissan, Yinon Bar-On and other members of Milo’s team in the Institute’s Plant and Environmental Sciences Department, Gleizer used lab evolution, as the technique is known; in essence, the bacteria were gradually weaned off the sugar they were used to eating. At each stage, cultured bacteria were given just enough sugar to keep them from complete starvation, as well as plenty of CO2 and formate. As some “learned” to develop a taste for CO2 (giving them an evolutionary edge over those that stuck to sugar), their descendants were given less and less sugar until after about a year of adapting to the new diet some of them eventually made the complete switch, living and multiplying in an environment that served up pure CO2.
The researchers believe that the bacteria’s new “health kick” could ultimately be healthy for the planet. Milo points out that today, biotech companies use cell cultures to produce commodity chemicals. Such cells – yeast or bacteria – could be induced to live on a diet of CO2 and renewable electricity, and thus be weaned from the large amounts of corn syrup they live on today. Bacteria could be further adapted so that rather than taking their energy from a substance such as formate, they might be able to get it straight up — say electrons from a solar collector – and then store that energy for later use as fuel in the form of carbon fixed in their cells. Such fuel would be carbon-neutral if the source of its carbon was atmospheric CO2.
“Our lab was the first to pursue the idea of changing the diet of a normal heterotroph (one that eats organic substances) to convert it to autotrophism (‘living on air’),” says Milo. “It sounded impossible at first, but it has taught us numerous lessons along the way, and in the end we showed it indeed can be done. Our findings are a significant milestone toward our goal of efficient, green scientific applications.”
A new study has shown how the gut microbiota of older mice can promote neural growth in young mice, leading to promising developments in future treatments. The research group, based in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, transferred the gut microbiota of older mice into the gut of younger mice with less developed gut fauna. This resulted in enhanced neurogenesis (neuron growth) in the brain and altered aging, suggesting that the symbiotic relationship between bacteria and their host can have significant benefits for health.
The past 20 years have seen a significant increase in the amount of research into the relationship between the host and the bacteria that live in or on it. The results of these studies have established an important role for this relationship innutrition, metabolism, and behavior. The medical community hopes that these latest results could lead to the development of food-based treatment to help slow down the aging process.
In this study, the research team attempted to uncover the functional characteristics of the gut microbiota of an aging host. The researchers transplanted gut microbiota from old or young mice into young, germ-free mouse recipients.
Using mice, the team led by Professor Sven Pettersson from the NTULee Kong Chian School of Medicine, transplanted gut microbes from old mice (24 months old) into young, germ-free mice (6 weeks old). After eight weeks, the young mice had increased intestinal growth and production of neurons in the brain, known as neurogenesis.
The team showed that the increased neurogenesis was due to an enrichment of gut microbes that produce a specific short chain fatty acid, called butyrate.
“We’ve found that microbes collected from an old mouse have the capacity to support neural growth in a younger mouse,” said Prof Pettersson. “This is a surprising and very interesting observation, especially since we can mimic the neuro-stimulatory effect by using butyrate alone.”
“These results will lead us to explore whether butyrate might support repair and rebuilding in situations like stroke, spinal damage and to attenuate accelerated ageing and cognitive decline”.
The study was published in Science Translational Medicine, and was undertaken by researchers from Singapore, UK, and Australia.
Canadian camouflage company Hyperstealth Biotechnology has patented the technology behind a material that bends light to make people and objects near invisible to the naked eye. The material, called Quantum Stealth, is currently still in the prototyping stage, but was developed by the company’s CEO Guy Cramer primarily formilitary purposes, to conceal agents and equipment such as tanks and jets in the field. As well as making objects close to invisible to the naked eye, the material also conceals them from infrared and ultraviolet imagers. Unlike traditional camouflage materials, which are limited to specific conditions such as forests or deserts, according to Cramer this “invisibility cloak” works in any environment or season, at any time of day. This is made possible through something called a lenticular lens – a corrugated sheet in which each ridge is made up of a convex – or outward-curving – lens. These are most commonly found in 3D bookmarks or collectable football cards but in this case, they are left clear rather than being printed on.
When multiple of these lenticular sheets with different lens distributions are layered in just the right way, they are able to refract light at a myriad different angles to create “dead spots“. Light is no longer able to pass through these points, hiding the subject behind them from view while the background remains unchanged.
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“It bends light like a glass of water does when a spoon or straw inside it looks bent,” Cramer said. “Except I figured out how to do it with a much smaller volume and thickness of material.”
Videos released by the company demonstrate Quantum Stealth‘s ability to work even when the material is the thickness of a sheet of paper, staying lightweight and inexpensive to produce while being substantial enough to also block thermal imagers.
There remain, however, some restrictions to the effectiveness of the material, as it requires the subject or object to stand a certain distance away in order to be concealed, and the effect might be more or less convincing when viewed from different angles.
A new cancer-detecting tool uses tiny circuits made of DNA to identify cancer cells by the molecular signatures on their surface. Duke University researchers fashioned the simple circuits from interacting strands of synthetic DNA that are tens of thousands of timesfiner than a human hair. Unlike the circuits in a computer, these circuits work by attaching to the outside of a cell and analyzing it for proteins found in greater numbers on some cell types than others. If a circuit finds its targets, it labels the cell with a tiny light-up tag. Because the devices distinguish cell types with higher specificity than previous methods, the researchers hope their work might improve diagnosis, and give cancer therapies better aim.
The cell membrane is studded with proteins that researchers can use to discriminate between tumor cells and normal cells, or among cancer cells of different types or disease stages.
Similar techniques have been used previously to detect cancer, but they’re more prone to false alarms — misidentifications that occur when mixtures of cellssport one or more of the proteins a DNA circuit is designed to screen for, but no single cell type has them all. For every cancer cell that is correctly detected using current methods, some fraction of healthy cells also get mislabeled as possibly cancerous when they’re not. Each type of cancer cell has a characteristic set of cell membrane proteins on its cell surface. To cut down on cases of mistaken identity, the Duke team designed a DNA circuit that must latch onto that specific combination of proteins on the same cell to work. As a result they’re much less likely to flag the wrong cells, Reif said.
The technology could be used as a screening tool to help rule out cancer, which could mean fewer unnecessary follow-ups, or to develop more targeted cancer treatments with fewer side effects.
About an hour or so after Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed an absurd, futuristic, brutalist electric pickup called Cybertruck to the world, I pulled myself up into its passenger seat. A Tesla employee then took me and three others for a short joy ride down a temporarily closed-off road that lines one side of SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
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We were riding in the midlevel, dual-motor version of the truck, which is supposed to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds and will eventually start at $49,900. But while the prototype truck was quick, the sensation of speed was dulled by its size and (undisclosed) weight. It didn’t really provide that thrilling jolt forward that Teslas are known for.
Instead, the most stunning thing about my ride in the Cybertruck was how big and roomy it was. Say what you will about the outside of the Cybertruck, but I (and the rear-seat passengers) had more space to spread out than previously seemed possible in a vehicle of this size, almost as if Tesla had pulled off some sort of magic trick.
And that’s sort of the whole deal with the Cybertruck, as far as I could tell by the end of the night. Yeah, it looks outrageous, with a design that’s more at home on the surface of Mars than in a Walmart parking lot. But if you’re willing to accept that, the truck could be more than meets the eye when it goes into production in late 2021.
For instance, the single-motor base model of the Cybertruck will allegedly get 250 miles or more on a full battery, with a 3,500-pound payload limit and 7,500-pound towing capacity — all for basically the same price as the entry-level Model 3 and Model Y.
While the price goes up from there, so do the specs, all the way to a version with a proposed 500-plus mile range and 14,000-pound towing capacity, which is powered by the same three-motor “Plaid powertrain” the company has been testing at Laguna Seca and the Nürburgring. Musk promised the Cybertruck will crush any off-road scenario, too, thanks to adaptive air suspension and up to 16 inches of ground clearance. Tesla also showed off photos of the truck on its website with an accompanying trailer as well as camping gear, hinting at possible accessories (though, let’s see the production trucks first). There are even some table stakes features for a modern truck, like 110V and 220V outlets, and lockable storage, and some more unique touches, like an onboard air compressor.
In recent weeks, China‘s space program has made news by revealing some of its long-term ambitions for spaceflight. These include establishing an Earth-Moon space economic zone by 2050, which, if successful, could allow the country to begin to dictate the rules of behavior for future space exploration. Some have questioned whether China, which has flown six human spaceflights in the last 16 years, can really build a large low-Earth space station, send taikonauts to the Moon, return samples from Mars, and more in the coming decade or two. But what seems clear is that the country’s authoritarian government has long-term plans and is taking steps toward becoming a global leader in space exploration.
By one important metric—orbital launches—China has already reached this goal. In 2018, the country set a goal of 35 orbital launches and ended up with 39 launch attempts. That year, the United States (29 flights) and Russia (20) trailed China, according toSpace Launch Report. It marked the first time China led the world in the number of successful orbital launches. This year, China is set to pace the world again. Through Sunday, the country has launched 27 orbital missions, followed by Russia (19), and the United States (16). Although nearly a month and a half remain in this year, a maximum of six additional orbital launches are likely from the United States in 2019.
To be fair, China’s space launch program has not been without hiccups. The country’s space program is still trying to bring its large Long March 5 vehicle back into service after a catastrophic failure during just its second mission, in July 2017. And the country had three failures in 2018 and 2019, compared to just one in the United States and Russia combined.
The United States has taken a step back this year in part due to decreased activity by SpaceX. The company launched a record 21 missions last year but has so far launched 11 rockets in 2019. A flurry of missions remains possible in the next six weeks for the company, including a space station resupply mission in early December, a commercial satellite launch, and additional Starlink flights.
Another big factor has been a slow year for United Launch Alliance. The Colorado-based company has launched just two Delta IV-Medium rockets this year, one Delta IV-Heavy, and a single Atlas V mission. The company may launch Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft before the end of 2019, giving the Atlas V rocket a second launch. It is possible that Rocket Lab, which has flown its Electron rocket from New Zealand five times in 2019 and is planning at least one more mission before the end of the year, will have more launches than United Launch Alliance for the first time. Sometime next year, Rocket Lab should also begin to add to the US tally for orbital launches as it opens a new facility at Wallops Island, Virginia.
For the first time in the United States, a gene editing tool has been used to treat advanced cancer in three patients and showed promising early results in a pilot phase 1 clinical trial. So far the treatment appears safe, and more results are expected soon. To develop a safer and more effective treatment for cancer patients, scientists from the University of Pennsylvania,the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy in San Francisco and Tmunity Therapeutics, a biotech company in Philadelphia, developed an advanced version of immunotherapy. In this treatment, a patient’s own immune cells are removed from the body, trained to recognize specific cancer cells and then finally injected back into the patient where they multiply and destroy them.
Unlike chemotherapy or radiation therapy, which directly kills cancer cells, immunotherapyactivates the body’s own immune system to do the work. This team used a gene editing tool called CRISPR to alter immune cells, turning them into trained soldiers to locate and kill cancer cells. By using this technique, the team hoped to develop a more effective form of immunotherapy with minimal side effects.
Better CRISPR-based gene editors for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other disorders, . combining chemistry, biology and nanotechnology, are used to engineer, control and deliver gene editing tools more efficiently and precisely.
The first step in making these tumor-killing cells used in the cancer drug trial was to isolate the T-cells – a type of white blood cells that fights pathogens and cancer cells – from the blood of the cancer patients. Two patients with advanced multiple myeloma and one patient with myxoid/round cell liposarcomavwere enrolled for this study.
To arm the T-cells and bolster their tumor-fighting skillswithout harming normal cells, scientists genetically engineered the T-cells – disabling three genes and adding one gene – before returning them to the patients.
The first two of these deleted genes encode T-cell receptors, which are proteins found on the surface of the T-cells that can recognize and bind specific molecules, known as antigens, on cancer cells. When these engineered T-cells bind to these antigens, it allows them to attack and directly kill the cancer cells. But the problem is that a single T-cell can recognize multiple different antigens in the body, making them less focused on finding the cancer cells. By eliminating these two genes, the T-cells are less likely to attack the wrong target or the host, a phenomenon called autoimmunity, In addition, they disrupted a third gene, called programmed cell death protein 1, which slows down the immune response. Disabling the programmed cell death protein 1 gene improves the efficiency of T-cells.
The final step in the transformation of these cells was adding a gene which produces a new T-cell receptor that recognizes and grabs onto a specific marker on the cancer cells called NY-ESO-1. With three genes deleted and one added, the T-cells are now ready to fight cancer.
While it is well known within the medical community that there is a link between the bacteria Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) and rates of gastric cancer—commonly referred to as stomach cancer—the rates and risk among Americans has been largely understudied. Now, after analyzing records of close to 400,000 patients, researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, have found that successfully eliminatingH pylori from the gastrointestinal tract led to a 75 percent reduction in the risk of gastric cancer. Researchers also found that rates of gastric cancer after detection of H pyloriinfection are higher among specific populations, suggesting that people who fall into these groups could benefit from more careful monitoring. The study is published in the journal Gastroenterology. H pylori is estimated to infect half of the world’s population, largely those in the eastern parts of the world. It can cause ulcers and other gastrointestinal issues but does not cause issues in the majority of people, and so many people are unaware they have it.
3D illustration of Helicobacter pylori, bacterium which causes gastric and duodenal ulcer
“The problem was that all research out of the U.S. used to study gastric cancer and determine American’s risk of developing it did not take into account H pylori infection, and studies worldwide have shown this infection is actually the leading risk factor for this type of cancer,” says the study’s lead author Shria Kumar, a fellow in the division of Gastroenterology.
The research team found that African American, Asian, Hispanic and Latin, American Indian, and Inuit Americans have a significantly higher risk of H pylori infection and of developing gastric cancer. Risks, when compared to the general population, are also higher among men, those who smoke, and among those whose H pyloriinfection is detected at an olderage.
Regrowing bones is no easy task, but the world’s lightest solid might make it easier to achieve. Researchers have figured out a way to use hybrid aerogels, strong but ultralightmaterials, to prompt new bone tissue to grow and replace lost or damaged tissue. Although bone cancer is a relatively rare disease (it accounts for less than 1% of all cancers), people who suffer from it often end up losing a lot of bone tissue and in extreme cases, undergo amputation. The cancerous tissue has to be cut out, taking with it a large chunk of nearby healthy tissue to make sure that the cancer does not spread. This effectively removes the cancer, but also leaves the patient with a lot less bone than they started out with.
A recent study has used hybrid aerogels to restore the lost tissue by prompting bone regeneration. Aerogels are basically a combination of solid and gas. Think Jell-O, but one where the waterhas been slowly dried out and replaced completely by air. This slow and careful removing of liquid is what allows the gel to retain its shape instead of shriveling into a hard lump. The pairing of solid and gas makes aerogels extremely light and very porous. These two qualities make them exceptionally suitable to use as scaffolds, which can be used as physical roadmaps for the developing bone to follow as it grows.
A section of bone with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. This is one of the cases where lost tissue could be restored by prompting bone regeneration.
Currently, the most common methods of bone regeneration either graftnew bone on to the repair site or slowly pull two bits of bone further and further apart to allow new bone to grow in the gap. If you think that these methods sound painful, complicated, and expensive, you are right.
It turns out that bone tissue just needs a little bit of encouragement to regenerate. Most of the time, simple mechanical pressure will do the trick. The fiddly bit is getting the new bone tissue to grow in the right direction and for the right amount of time. Stop it too early and the bone will be too weak to actually serve a purpose. Let it grow too much and it will end up as painful projections. This balanced growth can be achieved by using a scaffold, which is where hybrid aerogels come in. A scaffold is a structure that is placed at the site of bone repair, where it guides the growing tissue along its destined path. A good scaffold is strong but not too stiff, lasts just long enough for fresh tissue to develop, and has a lot of pores for the growing bone to snake through. This last bit is what makes a scaffold very similar to real bone. Hybrid aerogels happen to be a magic material that hits all these notes.
There are a lot of different kinds of scaffolds to choose from, ranging from ceramic and metals to cellulose hydrogels. So what makes hybrid aerogels any better than other scaffolds? For one, they are half made of proteins (that’s the “hybrid” bit), which are eventually broken down by the body. The other half, silica, slowly melts away as orthosilicic acid, which is known to hasten wound healing. Their pore size can be controlled during the manufacturing process, making it easy to adapt them to different uses. They are also being tested as drug delivery systems, meaning that the material could be spiked with medicines or growth factors before using it as a scaffold.
Earlier this year, three research labs based out of Iran, Germany, and Austria got together and decided to fuse a very strong protein with a very light and porous aerogel. The very strong protein issilk fibroin, the stuff found in silkworm cocoons and used to make fancy fabrics. It makes the aerogel strong and just stiff enough to use for bone growth. With the raw materials ready, the scientists started with Phase I: make the hybrid aerogel. Throw a source of silica, silk fibroin, some acid and a touch of detergent into a pot. Bake for an hour and voilà! You have yourself a silica-silk fibroin hybrid aerogel.
Hybrid aerogels are strong but ultralight materials. Here, the flower is protected from the fire by the insulating properties of the aerogelThe researchers made the perfect hybrid aerogel – hydrophilic (water-loving), not too stiff, and adequately biodegradable.
Having made the material, they now moved to Phase II: check if the hybrid aerogels are in any way harmful to human cells. In fact, the cells seemed to really like the material. When the hybrid aerogel was placed in a dish containing bone cells, they readily grew on its surface, depositing the proteins and minerals required for bone growth along the way.
On to Phase III: implant the hybrid aerogel in mice and check if it stimulates bone regeneration. The researchers made small bone injuries in two groups of mice and implanted the hybrid aerogel in one of them. After 25 days, they saw that the mice with the implants showed faster and better healing than the mice without implants. The aerogel was not just allowing new bone to grow, but also making it grow faster than normal.
This ability of the hybrid aerogel to speed up bone regeneration places it on the forefront of new therapeutic technologies. Imagine having bone fractures healing in a span of days, as opposed to weeks. Or being able to tell a bone cancer patient that, “Yes, you have to cut out a section of their leg but it can be easily grown back, no worries.” Hybrid aerogels are possibly the biomaterial that could make such conversations a reality.
Calculating angular velocity and the moment of inertia isn’t quite as hard as competing in the Olympic gymnastics tournament—but it’s pretty darn tough.
Dozens of viruses don't use the same four nucleotide bases found in all other life. New work shows how this is possible—and perhaps more common than we think.
In a warped version of international cooperation, the Games could provide a place for variants of the virus to spread and then return home with athletes.
The Amazon founder, his brother, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and a paying passenger were the first to test out the New Shepard suborbital rocket system.
WIRED is reporting daily from Van Horn, Texas, where the Amazon founder will be among the first passengers aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket system.
These high-energy explosions, brighter than billions and billions of suns, have recently been tracked for days, upending ideas about the cataclysms that create them.
From #UKnowUrBlackWhen to #BlackLivesMatter, how a loose online network became a pop culture juggernaut, an engine of social justice, and a lens into the future.
Tourists neither commit nor attract crimes. But a study finds that violent offenses rose in neighborhoods where more homes were converted to short-term rentals.
A handful of companies have outsize influence on the world’s artificial intelligence. Policymakers must act now to stem the rise of powerful monopolies.
You want to be productive. Software wants to help. But even with a glut of tools claiming to make us all into taskmasters, we almost never master our tasks.
Pamela Conrad is a NASA scientist working on the Perseverance mission—and a priest. She spoke to WIRED about how her two worlds help her make sense of the universe.
November 29, 2019
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“We’ve found that microbes collected from an old mouse have the capacity to support neural growth in a younger mouse,” said Prof Pettersson. “This is a surprising and very interesting observation, especially since we can mimic the neuro-stimulatory effect by using butyrate alone.”
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