Day 118: Conference Day 3
It’s been a busy conference. Yesterday was a particularly full day and so today, I’m blogging via phone. This morning we hiked a mountain. Well A-mountain (seriously that’s the name of it).
Day 111: A prosthetic update
Prosthetic I’ve designed for Lucas, you can see the full view further into the post.
Now that the term is over, you would think I get some time to myself. That is unfortunately not true. There is still quite a bit of work ahead for me before I can take some time over the winter break to relax. One of the more important things that needs to happen is the prosthetic project I’ve been working on for some time.
Day 1: Power Spectral Density (pwelch)
Some EEG data that I’ve aligned, processed, and made look nice and pretty.
Signal processing, it’s complex, there are a million ways to go about processing a signal, and like life, there is no best way to go about doing it. Trust me, it is as frustrating as it sounds. Today’s scratch pad note is on power spectral density or PSD for short. So let’s dive in.*
Back again with 365 Days of Academia
It’s been an awful time. dusts off the cobwebs around the blog Things have been rough, but I figure it’s time to try and blog regularly again.
So what’s new?
Humanoid bipedal robot for balance testing, 100% designed and built by me!
Embryonic gene Nanog reverses aging in adult stem cells
The fountain of youth may reside in an embryonic stem cell gene named Nanog. In a series of experiments, the gene kicked into action dormant cellular processes that are key to preventing weak bones, clogged arteries and other telltale signs of growing old. The findings also show promise in counteracting premature aging disorders such as Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome.
A new bio-ink for 3-D printing with stem cells
The new stem cell-containing bio ink allows 3D printing of living tissue, known as bio-printing. The new bio-ink contains two different polymer components: a natural polymer extracted from seaweed, and a sacrificial synthetic polymer used in the medical industry, and both had a role to play.
Insights into protein structure could change the future of biomedicine
Researchers at the University of Waterloo have discovered a new way to create designer proteins that have the potential to transform biotechnology and personalized medicines.
Supercoiled DNA is far more dynamic than the ‘Watson-Crick’ double helix
The image shows the structure of the DNA calculated with the supercomputer simulations (in colour) superimposed upon the cryo-electron tomography data (in white or yellow). (There is no superimposition onto cryo-electron tomography data for the purple figure-8 shape.) You can see that the familiar double helix has been either simply bent into a circle or twisted into a figure-8. Image credit goes to: Thana Sutthlbutpong
Researchers have imaged in unprecedented detail the three-dimensional structure of supercoiled DNA, revealing that its shape is much more dynamic than the well-known double helix.
Artificial ‘plants’ could fuel the future
This schematic image of Chang’s artificial photosynthesis systems shows its four general components: (1) harvesting solar energy, (2) generating reducing equivalents, (3) reducing CO2 to biosynthetic intermediates and (4) producing value-added chemicals.
Image credit goes to: Berkeley Lab
Imagine creating artificial plants that make gasoline and natural gas using only sunlight. And imagine using those fuels to heat our homes or run our cars without adding any greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. By combining nanoscience and biology, researchers led by scientists at University of California, Berkeley, have taken a big step in that direction.
Synthetic biology used to engineer new route to biochemicals
Living cells can make a vast range of products for us, but they don’t always do it in the most straightforward or efficient way. Shota Atsumi, a chemistry professor at UC Davis, aims to address that through “synthetic biology:” designing and building new biochemical pathways within living cells, based on existing pathways from other living things.
Cell density remains constant as brain shrinks with age
Brain cell density remains constant with age among cognitively normal adults. Image credit goes to: Dr. Keith Thulborn
New, ultra-high-field magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the brain by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago provide the most detailed images to date to show that while the brain shrinks with age, brain cell density remains constant. The images provide the first evidence that in normal aging, cell density is preserved throughout the brain, not just in specific regions, as previous studies on human brain tissue have shown.
First functional, synthetic immune organ with controllable antibodies created by engineers
Cornell University engineers have created a functional, synthetic immune organ that produces antibodies and can be controlled in the lab, completely separate from a living organism. The engineered organ has implications for everything from rapid production of immune therapies to new frontiers in cancer or infectious disease research.
Expanding the code of life with new ‘letters’
Not anymore…
The DNA encoding all life on Earth is made of four building blocks called nucleotides, commonly known as “letters,” that line up in pairs and twist into a double helix. Now, two groups of scientists are reporting for the first time that two new nucleotides can do the same thing — raising the possibility that entirely new proteins could be created for medical uses.
Nanoparticles in products can significantly alter normal gut microbiome
Nanoparticles, it’s the new buzzword that cosmetics and even consumer “anti-aging” products use to promote their brand. As the word suggests, nanoparticles are small and it shouldn’t be too surprising that these nanoparticles are causing problems in nature because of their prevalence. In that light, it might not be a surprise that there could also be some serious health issues associated with these nanoparticles.
Could maple syrup help cut use of antibiotics?
Another reason to have those waffles… well maybe. Researchers have found that a concentrated extract of maple syrup makes disease-causing bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics. In an ever increasing antibiotic resistant world, this news is almost as sweet as the syrup (okay no more bad puns). The findings suggest that combining maple syrup extract with common antibiotics could increase the microbes’ susceptibility, leading to lower antibiotic usage.
Lunatic Laboratories 