PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Visionary bone damage study

X-rays confirm promise of new luminescent markers

Visionary bone damage study
2021-04-07
(Press-News.org) A novel way to pinpoint and illuminate bone damage promises to make X-rays more efficient at diagnosing bone and other injuries, Flinders University researchers say.

The new technique, looking at potential biomedical applications of an ancient inorganic salt-based aggregation induced emission (AIE) radio-luminescence material, could open new frontiers in medicine including X-ray dosimetry, bioimaging and advanced applications such as optogenetics, says Professor Youhong Tang, from Flinders University's College of Science and Engineering.

The review article, published by Professor Tang, postdoctoral student Dr Javad Tavokoli, colleagues in Hong Kong and Australian technology company Micro-X and, examined the potential of the AIEgen luminogens (AIEgens) in deep tissue imaging. The study used X-ray testing provided by Adelaide-based Micro-X.

"We were able to use Micro-X advanced X-ray machines at the Tonsley Innovation District to show the benefits of this AIEgen system which can be excited by X-ray (as the radioluminescence emitter) and UV light (as the photoluminescence emitter) compared to current AIEgens which mostly only act as the photoluminescence emitter," he says.

"The study highlighted the disadvantages of autofluorescence, poor signal-to-noise radio, and poor tissue penetration depth of traditional photoluminescence emitters which could be elegantly solved by these radioluminescence luminogens," says Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Dr Tang.

"Not only do they pinpoint bone and soft tissue damage for better diagnosis and treatment but we suggest further studies could see these AIE-based materials with multifunctionalities used for improved drug delivery, biosensors, bioimaging, and tissue engineering."

Lead author on the journal article in Aggregate, Dr Tavokoli, how based at the Centre for Health Technologies at University of Technology Sydney, says the next generation of fluorescent gels could also capitalise on additional light-emitting properties making them attractive for different applications.

The latest work not only explores a series of inorganic AIE systems but also "fundamentally helps to understand both the unconventional organic and inorganic clusteroluminescence phenomena, Professor Tang concludes.

INFORMATION:

The paper, Revisiting an ancient inorganic aggregation?induced emission system: An enlightenment to clusteroluminescence (2021) by Zheng Zhao, Zaiyu Wang, Javad Tavakoli, Guogang Shan, Jianyu Zhang, Chen Peng, Yu Xiong, Xuepeng Zhang, Tsz Shing Cheung, Youhong Tang, Bolong Huang and Zhaoxun Yu published in Aggregate DOI: 10.1002/agt2.36


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Visionary bone damage study

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Estimating costs of uterine transplantation

Estimating costs of uterine transplantation
2021-04-07
Sweden's acclaimed research on uterine transplants has taken a new step forward: into the field of health economics. Now, for the first time, there is a scientifically based estimate of how much implementing the treatment costs. The current research is based on the nine uterine transplants from living donors carried out in 2013, under the leadership of Mats Brännström, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, and Chief Physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. The transplants were performed within the scope of the world's first systematic, scientifically based study in the field. After ...

Training in compassion improves the well-being of relatives to people with mental illness

2021-04-07
If relatives of people with mental illness become better at accepting the difficult emotions and life events they experience - which is what training in compassion is about - their anxiety, depression and stress is reduced. These are the results of a new study from the Danish Center for Mindfulness at Aarhus University. Being a relative of a person with a mental illness can be very burdensome. It can feel like a great responsibility, and many people struggle with feelings of fear, guilt, shame and anger. A new study from the Danish Center for Mindfulness shows that eight weeks of training in compassion can significantly improve the well-being of relatives. Compassion is a human quality that is anchored in the recognition of and desire to relieve ...

Myositis-specific autoreactive T cells are pathogenic for dermatomyositis

2021-04-07
Tsukuba, Japan - Dermatomyositis is an idiopathic inflammatory myopathy that has been regarded as an autoimmunity-based disorder, although its pathogenesis remains unclear. In this study, researchers from the University of Tsukuba used a mouse model to identify a mechanism by which dermatomyositis may develop in humans. The animal model and findings can be used to better understand the disease and develop disease-specific treatments. Dermatomyositis belongs to a group of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies that are associated with the presence of specific autoantibodies in patient sera. Multiple myositis-specific autoantibodies, which target proteins ubiquitously expressed in the nucleus or cytoplasm, have been described. One ...

Scientists develop eco-friendly pollen sponge to tackle water contaminants

2021-04-07
A team of scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has created a reusable, biodegradable sponge that can readily soak up oil and other organic solvents from contaminated water sources, making it a promising alternative for tackling marine oil spills. Made of sunflower pollen, the sponge is hydrophobic - it repels water - thanks to a coat of natural fatty acid on the sponge. In lab experiments, the scientists showed the sponge's ability to absorb oil contaminants of various densities, such as gasoline and motor oil, ...

Black hole pairs found in distant merging galaxies

2021-04-07
Astronomers have found two close pairs of quasars in the distant Universe. Follow-up observations with Gemini North spectroscopically resolved one of the distant quasar pairs, after their discovery with the Hubble Space Telescope and Gaia spacecraft. These quasars are closer together than any pair of quasars found so far away, providing strong evidence for the existence of supermassive black hole pairs as well as crucial insight into galaxy mergers in the early Universe. The quasars in each of the two pairs are separated by just over 10,000 light-years, suggesting ...

A few hundred dollars makes a difference in use of long-lasting birth control

A few hundred dollars makes a difference in use of long-lasting birth control
2021-04-07
Getting a birth control implant used to cost some women hundreds of dollars, if they were among the nearly half of privately insured Americans covered by a health plan with a high deductible that they were responsible for paying. But a new study in the April issue of Health Affairs shows that after the Affordable Care Act's no-cost birth control provision took effect in 2013, women in these high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) opted for long-acting contraception even more than women with other types of health plans. The study's findings have important policy implications, because employers now have the ability to opt out of the birth control portion of the ACA, following a Supreme Court case decided in 2020. Many employers have shifted to HDHPs to hold down their overall health ...

Wild barley from Jordan holds key to stem rust resistance

Wild barley from Jordan holds key to stem rust resistance
2021-04-07
Stem rust is a devastating disease of cereal crops, including barley, one of the first domesticated crops in agriculture and the fourth most widely grown crop in the world. Barley is unique because it is one of only a few crops that can be cultivated in almost any climate and across a range of elevations, making it economically and nutritionally important. Stem rust is one of the biggest threats to barley production and capable of causing complete crop loss during severe epidemics. And since barley is also used as malt for beer and spirits and feed for animals ...

Is combat-induced post-traumatic stress disorder unique to industrialized warfare?

Is combat-induced post-traumatic stress disorder unique to industrialized warfare?
2021-04-07
Thirty years ago, clinical psychiatrist Jonathan Shay drew attention to similarities between the trauma experienced by the Greek warriors, as documented in the epic poem "The Iliad," and Vietnam veterans in America. Could the experience of war impact people in similar ways in vastly different cultural milieus? Research published this week by ASU researcher Sarah Mathew and former ASU postdoctoral researcher Matthew Zefferman in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that Turkana pastoralist warriors from Kenya also experience PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) symptoms, even though their lifestyles and combat experiences are ...

Aquatic ecosystems source of half of global methane emissions

2021-04-07
Direct human alterations to natural aquatic ecosystems can increase methane emissions, a new study has found. Atmospheric methane has tripled since pre-industrial times. It traps heat far more effectively than carbon dioxide and accounts for 25% of atmospheric warming to date. And much of that methane is coming from aquatic ecosystems, with human activities contributing to the emissions levels, a new paper published in Nature Geoscience has found. The global contribution and importance of aquatic ecosystems as methane emitters has been underestimated, ...

How the spinifex got its hole

2021-04-07
Anyone who has visited the Australian outback would be familiar with spinifex grasses, which cover almost a fifth of our continent. Like many scientists, they may have also wondered why this iconic arid grass grows in striking ring shapes. Previous studies have tested whether spinifex rings could be caused by termites, water availability or nutrient depletion, but none has provided a convincing explanation. Now scientists from UNSW Sydney have found that pathogenic soil microbes play a role in how the spinifex got its hole. Their study, the first of its kind in an arid ecosystem, has been published in the Australian Journal of Botany. Professor Angela Moles and Neil Ross from ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Heat and heavy metals are changing the way that bees buzz

What’s behind the enormous increase in early-onset gastrointestinal cancers?

Pharmacogenomics expert advances precision medicine for bipolar disorder

Brazilian researcher explores centenarian stem cells for aging insights

Dr. Xuyu Qian's breakthrough analysis of 18 million brain cells advances understanding of human brain development

Gene networks decode human brain architecture from health to glioma

How artificial light at night damages brain health and metabolism

For ultrasound, ultra-strength not always a good thing

Matching your workouts to your personality could make exercising more enjoyable and give you better results

Study shows people perceive biodiversity

Personality type can predict which forms of exercise people enjoy

People can accurately judge biodiversity through sight and sound

People diagnosed with dementia are living longer, global study shows

When domesticated rabbits go feral, new morphologies emerge

Rain events could cause major failure of Waikīkī storm drainage by 2050

Breakthrough in upconversion luminescence research: Uncovering the energy back transfer mechanism

Hidden role of 'cell protector' opens cancer treatment possibilities

How plants build the microbiome they need to survive in a tough environment

Depression due to politics and its quiet danger to democracy addressed in new book 'The Sad Citizen'

International experts and patients unite to help ensure all patients are fully informed before consenting to new surgical procedures

Melting glaciers could trigger more explosive eruptions globally, finds research

Nearly half of U.S. grandchildren live within 10 miles of a grandparent

Study demonstrates low-cost method to remove CO₂ from air using cold temperatures, common materials

Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) welcomes 13 students to prestigious Summer Fellowship program

Mass timber could elevate hospital construction

A nuanced model of soil moisture illuminates plant behavior and climate patterns

$2.6 million NIH grant backs search for genetic cure in deadly heart disease

Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program changed drastically when anxiety was added as a qualifying condition

1 in 5 overweight adults could be reclassified with obesity according to new framework

Findings of study on how illegally manufactured fentanyl enters U.S. contradict common assumptions, undermining efforts to control supply

[Press-News.org] Visionary bone damage study
X-rays confirm promise of new luminescent markers