logo

Author Archive

A wearable sensor to help ALS patients communicate

People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) suffer from a gradual decline in their ability to control their muscles. As a result, they often lose the ability to speak, making it difficult to communicate with others.

A team of MIT researchers has now designed a stretchable, skin-like device that can be attached to a patient’s face and can measure small movements such as a twitch or a smile. Using this approach, patients could communicate a variety of sentiments, such as “I love you” or “I’m hungry,” with small movements that are measured and interpreted by the device.

Pandemic-related stress leads to less employee engagement

But a supportive boss can make a difference, study finds

As COVID-19 cases surged this spring, the pandemic led some people more than others to ponder their own mortality. A new study in China and the United States suggests that these people were the ones who showed the highest levels of stress and the least engagement at work.

Studies Find Even Minimal Physical Activity Measurably Boosts Health

More than 5 million people around the world die from causes associated with a lack of physical activity. Two research teams at UC San Diego School of Medicine sought to understand sedentary lifestyles, with one study finding that even light physical activity, including just standing, can benefit health, and the other that Americans are still sitting too much.

Navigating careers and higher education amidst Covid-19

The pandemic has had rippling effects on jobs in most sectors from pay cuts, job losses to an increased demand for professionals engaged in Research & Development to tackle Covid-19, qualified laboratory staff for PCR testing as well as medical staff.Covid-19 has also shaken the education sector with lectures and in some cases laboratory sessions shifting to online platforms. If you have any questions as to how the pandemic might impact you or if you have any general questions in pursuing higher education or a career in a scientific field e-mail us at editor@scienceabode.com

Remote neuropsychology tests for children shown effective

Administering neuropsychology evaluations to children online in the comfort of their own homes is feasible and delivers results comparable to tests traditionally performed in a clinic, a new study led by UT Southwestern researchers and Children’s Health indicates. The finding, published online this month in the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, could help expand access to specialists and reduce barriers to care, particularly as the popularity of telemedicine grows during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Factors inherent to obesity could increase vulnerability to COVID-19

Inflammation in the lungs combined with high viral loads of the novel coronavirus create a perfect storm for obese patients with COVID-19, UTSW scientists say

Conditions related to obesity, including inflammation and leaky gut, leave the lungs of obese patients more susceptible to COVID-19 and may explain why they are more likely to die from the disease, UTSW scientists say in a new article published online in eLife. They suggest that drugs used to lower inflammation in the lungs could prove beneficial to obese patients with the disease.

Circadian Rhythms Help Guide Waste from Brain

New research details how the complex set of molecular and fluid dynamics that comprise the glymphatic system – the brain’s unique process of waste removal – are synchronized with the master internal clock that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. These findings suggest that people who rely on sleeping during daytime hours are at greater risk for developing neurological disorders.