Tag Archives: ucla

UCLA’s New Nano-Lens Microscopes Can Detect Viruses, Other Objects at Nanoscale

By Guest PostJanuary 28, 2013Scienceadenoviruses, ahmet f coskun, alon greenbaum, aydogan ozcan, california nanosystems institute, cea leti, cedric p allier, computational reconstruction techniques, electron microscopy, euan mcleod, france, H1N1, henry samueli school, human hair, influenza viral particles, led, light emitting diode, liquid lenses, microscopic objects, nanoscale lenses, nanoscale objects, onur mudanyali, optical microscopy method, optical microscopy platform, polystyrene nanoparticles, single viruses, sparse population, special liquid composition, square millimeters, ucla, volume of samples, wei luo, yves hennequin

By using tiny liquid lenses that self-assemble around microscopic objects, a team from UCLA’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has created an optical microscopy method that allows users to directly see objects more than 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

Coupled with computer-based computational reconstruction techniques, this portable and cost-effective platform, which has a wide field of view, can detect individual viruses and nanoparticles, making it potentially useful in the diagnosis of diseases in point-of-care settings or areas where medical resources are limited. (more…)

Genes and obesity: Fast food isn’t only culprit in expanding waistlines — DNA is also to blame

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2013Healthadipose, bmi, body fat response, body mass index, brian parks, cancer, control, degree of obesity, diverse mouse population, DNA, elin org, elizabeth nam, emrah kostem, environmental conditions, environmental factors, epidemic, fast food diet, fat, fat tissue, frode norheim, genetic factor, genetics, global gene expression, heart disease, high calorie diets, inbred strains, intestinal bacteria, intestinal flora, jake lusis, level, metabolic response, mice, modeling, obesity traits, sedentary lifestyles, strains, sugar, type 2 diabetes, ucla, weight gain

Researchers at UCLA say it’s not just what you eat that makes those pants tighter — it’s also genetics. In a new study, scientists discovered that body-fat responses to a typical fast-food diet are determined in large part by genetic factors, and they have identified several genes they say may control those responses.

The study is the first of its kind to detail metabolic responses to a high-fat, high-sugar diet in a large and diverse mouse population under defined environmental conditions, modeling closely what is likely to occur in human populations. The researchers found that the amount of food consumed contributed only modestly to the degree of obesity. (more…)

Pesticides and Parkinson’s: UCLA Researchers Uncover Further Proof of a Link

By Guest PostJanuary 11, 2013Environment, Healthaaron lulla, aldehyde dehydrogenase, aldh, aldh activity, arthur g fitzmaurice, benomyl, benomyl exposure, brain malformations, california, carcinogenesis, case, cellular event, central valley, common chemical, culprit, damage, degeneration of neurons, disease, dopal, dopaminergic neurons, drifting particles, environmental protection agency, enzyme, genetic variations, hoa a lam, jeff bronstein, link, lisa barnhill, liver tumors, maneb, mid brain, molecular tweezers, neurologist, neuron, neurotransmitter, nigel t maidment, paraquat, parkinson's, parkinsons symptoms, pesticide, progression of disease, protein, reproductive effect, rigidity, slowed movement, speech, spray, substantia nigra, therapeutic drugs, toxicological effect, toxin, tremor, ucla, ziram, α synuclein

Study suggests potential new target in fight against debilitating disease

For several years, neurologists at UCLA have been building a case that a link exists between pesticides and Parkinson’s disease. To date, paraquat, maneb and ziram — common chemicals sprayed in California’s Central Valley and elsewhere — have been tied to increases in the disease, not only among farmworkers but in individuals who simply lived or worked near fields and likely inhaled drifting particles.

Now, UCLA researchers have discovered a link between Parkinson’s and another pesticide, benomyl, whose toxicological effects still linger some 10 years after the chemical was banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (more…)

Public Obsession with Obesity May be More Dangerous than Obesity Itself, UCLA Author Says

By Guest PostDecember 23, 2012Culture, Healthabigail saguy, body mass, cervical cancer, civil rights, confirmation bias, diabetes, genetic factors, neighborhood limitations, obesity, obesity epidemic, obesity task force, poor nutrition, social factors, socioeconomic status, sociologist, stress, third factor, ucla, us population

Much has been made about who or what is to blame for the “obesity epidemic” and what can or should be done to stem the tide of rising body mass among the U.S. population.

A new book by a UCLA sociologist turns these concerns on their head by asking two questions. First, how and why has fatness been medicalized as “obesity” in the first place? Second, what are the social costs of this particular way of discussing body size? (more…)

UCLA Engineers Develop New Energy-Efficient Computer Memory Using Magnetic Materials

By Guest PostDecember 21, 2012Scienceaccess memory, computer memory, computers, data, electric voltage, electrical potential, electrons, flowing electric current, Germany, juan g alzate, kang l wang, magnetic bits, magnetic fields, magnetic memory, magnetic property, magnetoelectric, magnetoresistive, memory arrays, meram, meram bit, microprocessors, mram, nanoscale, non volatile logic, pedram khalili, per bit, random, random access memory, singulus technologies, smart phones, spin, spin transfer torque, stt, stt ram, tablets, ucla, ucla darpa, ultra fast

MeRAM is up to 1,000 times more energy-efficient than current technologies

By using electric voltage instead of a flowing electric current, researchers from UCLA’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have made major improvements to an ultra-fast, high-capacity class of computer memory known as magnetoresistive random access memory, or MRAM.

The UCLA team’s improved memory, which they call MeRAM for magnetoelectric random access memory, has great potential to be used in future memory chips for almost all electronic applications, including smart-phones, tablets, computers and microprocessors, as well as for data storage, like the solid-state disks used in computers and large data centers. (more…)

More than Half a Million California Adults Think Seriously about Committing Suicide

By Guest PostDecember 20, 2012Generaladult, alaska natives, american indians, bisexual, california, californians, chis, committing suicide, david grant, ethnic groups, gay, half a million, health interview survey, lesbian, los angeles, mental health services, prevention, risk, sacramento area, sierra counties, smokers, statistics data, suicidal behavior, suicidal thoughts, suicide ideation, suicide rate, ucla

More than half a million adults in California seriously thought about committing suicide during the previous year, according to a new study from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

The study, which uses data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), is the first by the center to focus on suicide ideation.

In California, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death, the researchers noted. An average of nine deaths by suicide occur each day in the state. (more…)

Prostate Cancer Now Detectable Using Imaging-Guided Biopsy, UCLA Study Shows

By Guest PostDecember 12, 2012Healthaggressive tumor, anesthesia, arnold chin, artemis, biomedical engineering, biopsies, blind biopsies, casit, conventional biopsies, diagnosis, fusion biopsy, gleason score, groundbreaking research, image guided, journal of urology, leonard s marks, magnetic resonance imaging, mri, organ, prostate cancer, prostate lesion, prostate specific antigen, prostate tumors, psa, psa levels, real time ultrasound, robert meier, santa barbara, tissue samples, tumor spots, ucla, ultrasound, urologist

Groundbreaking research by a team of UCLA physicians and engineers demonstrates that prostate cancer — long identifiable only through painful, hit-or-miss biopsies — can be diagnosed far more easily and accurately using a new image-guided, targeted biopsy procedure.

Traditionally, prostate tumors have been found through so-called blind biopsies, in which tissue samples are taken systematically from the entire prostate in the hopes of locating a piece of tumor — a technique that dates back to the 1980s. But the cancer now appears detectable by direct sampling of tumor spots found using magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, in combination with real-time ultrasound, the researchers say. (more…)

UCLA Doctors Remove Man’s Heart, Replace it with Total Artificial Heart

By Guest PostDecember 10, 2012Health, Scienceadvanced technology, ali nsair, artificial heart, backpack, bridge, cardiothoracic surgery, chad washington, defibrillator implanted, diseased heart, donor heart, exercise, freedom portable driver, heart disease, heart transplant program, immunosuppressant medications, living without heart, mario deng, nutrition plan, pacemaker, richard j shemin, syncardia, temporary, temporary pump, tick tock, total artificial heart, transplant surgery, transplantation, ucla

Portable power supply allows patient to go home while he awaits new heart

Imagine living without a heart. It is possible — if you have a new artificial heart pumping blood through your body. You can even go to the supermarket, watch your kid’s soccer game or go on a hike.

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has performed its first procedure to remove a patient’s diseased heart and replace it with a SynCardia Temporary Total Artificial Heart.

Chad Washington, 35, underwent the seven-hour transplant surgery at UCLA on Oct. 29, led by Dr. Murray Kwon, an assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery. (more…)