Laboratory Equipment

Robots Help Autistic Kids Learn, Communicate

The young boy, Jack, shyly approaches his friend in a classroom at Whiting Lane Elementary School. This is the last time they’ll see each other, and Jack has a gift for his playmate: a picture of the two of them together, and the words, “I’ll miss you.”

A common enough scene, except the “you” in this case is a humanoid robot programmed by researchers affiliated with the Univ. of Connecticut and Movia Robotics to help children with learning delays — like those on the autism spectrum — improve their social and communication skills.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/videos/2013/04/robots-help-autistic-kids-learn-communicate

Low-Dose Aspirin Halts Some Breast Cancers

Regular use of low-dose aspirin may prevent the progression of breast cancer, according to results of a study by researchers at the Kansas City VA Medical Center and the Univ. of Kansas Medical Center.

The study found that aspirin slowed the growth of breast cancer cell lines in the lab and significantly reduced the growth of tumors in mice. The age-old headache remedy also exhibits the ability to prevent tumor cells from spreading.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/low-dose-aspirin-halts-some-breast-cancers

Hormone Replacement is Safe

A new study has examined the cognitive effects of hormone therapy on memory, language and concentration in menopausal women.

A study, published in the Menopause journal, examined the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) E2D, which used a combination of hormones estradiol and drospirenone to treat women. Early postmenopausal women aged between 49 and 55 who had never used HRT were assessed over a six-month period.

The treatment resulted in significant improvement in menopausal symptoms including hot flushes, night sweats and sexual function, and it lowered blood pressure and weight in comparison to those who were treated with an identical placebo.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/hormone-replacement-safe

Caffeine Key to Future Cancer Treatments

Researchers from the Univ. of Alberta are abuzz after using fruit flies to find new ways of taking advantage of caffeine’s lethal effects on cancer cells — results that could one day be used to advance cancer therapies for people.

Previous research has established that caffeine interferes with processes in cancer cells that control DNA repair, a finding that has generated interest in using the stimulant as a chemotherapy treatment. But given the toxic nature of caffeine at high doses, researchers from the faculties of medicine and dentistry and science instead opted to use it to identify genes and pathways responsible for DNA repair.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/caffeine-key-future-cancer-treatments

Technique Delivers HIV Drug Directly to Brain

In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers from Florida International Univ.’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine describe a revolutionary technique they have developed that can deliver and fully release the anti-HIV drug AZTTP into the brain.

Madhavan Nair, professor and chair, and Sakhrat Khizroev, professor and vice chair of the HWCOM’s Department of Immunology, used magneto-electric nanoparticles (MENs) to cross the blood-brain barrier and send a significantly increased level of AZTTP — up to 97 percent more — to HIV-infected cells.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/technique-delivers-hiv-drug-directly-brain

Nanodiamonds Can Up Effectiveness of Cancer Treatment

Recently, doctors have begun to categorize breast cancers into four main groups according to the genetic makeup of the cancer cells. Which category a cancer falls into generally determines the best method of treatment.

But cancers in one of the four groups — called “basal-like” or “triple-negative” breast cancer (TNBC) — have been particularly tricky to treat because they usually don’t respond to the “receptor-targeted” treatments that are often effective in treating other types of breast cancer. TNBC tends to be more aggressive than the other types and more likely to recur, and can also have a higher mortality rate. Fortunately, better drug therapies may be on the horizon. Researchers have developed a potentially more effective treatment for TNBC that uses nanoscale, diamond-like particles called nanodiamonds.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/nanodiamonds-can-effectiveness-cancer-treatment

Boxing May Slow Parkinson’s Symptoms

When Mary Yeaman was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2006, she could barely bring herself to leave her house. Her muscles were weak, and she was having a hard time coping.

In 2007, she found Rock Steady Boxing in Indianapolis. She now attends classes every week and has seen her symptoms ease as a result of a rigorous regimen of punching, jumping, jogging and stretching.

Rock Steady, founded in 2006 by former Marion County prosecutor Scott Newman after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 40, gives people suffering from the disease an outlet to ease their symptoms and improve their physical fitness. Through boxing-inspired fitness classes, participants use exercise to slow the symptoms of a progressive neurological disease that causes tremors, muscle rigidity, loss of balance and cognitive, speech and vision impairment.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/boxing-may-slow-parkinsons-symptoms

Separation Process Advances Stem Cell Production

A new separation process that depends on an easily distinguished physical difference in adhesive forces among cells could help expand production of stem cells generated through cell reprogramming. By facilitating new research, the separation process could also lead to improvements in the reprogramming technique itself and help scientists model certain disease processes.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/separation-process-advances-stem-cell-production

Ebola Virus Has Diagnostic Achilles’ Heel

By screening a library of a billion llama antibodies on live Ebola viruses in the Texas Biomedical Research Institute’s highest biocontainment laboratory, scientists in San Antonio have identified a potential weakness in the make-up of these deadly agents that can immediately yield a sensitive test.

“Detecting single viral protein components can be challenging, especially at very low levels. However, most viruses are repetitive assemblies of a few components, called antigens, with some existing as polymers which present highly ‘avid’ targets for antibodies,” says Texas Biomed virologist Andrew Hayhurst.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/ebola-virus-has-diagnostic-achilles-heel

Enzyme Levels Key to Lowering Chemo Side Effects

New research from MIT may allow scientists to develop a test that can predict the severity of side effects of some common chemotherapy agents in individual patients, allowing doctors to tailor treatments to minimize the damage.

The study focused on powerful cancer drugs known as alkylating agents, which damage DNA by attaching molecules containing carbon atoms to it. Found in tobacco smoke and in byproducts of fuel combustion, these compounds can actually cause cancer. However, because they can kill tumor cells, very reactive alkylating agents are also used to treat cancer.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/enzyme-levels-key-lowering-chemo-side-effects