Research

Mobile Health Applications Put the Personal Data of Millions of Users at Risk

80% of the most popular health applications available on Android do not comply with standards intended to prevent the misuse and dissemination of their users' data. This is the finding of a European study started in 2016 and involving Agustí Solanas, head of the Smart Health research group at the URV's Department of Computer Engineering and Mathematics, and researchers from the University of Piraeus (Greece) headed by Constantinos Patsakis.

Lung Cancer Drug Resistance Explained by Computer Simulations

Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Parma, Italy, have used molecular simulations to understand resistance to osimertinib - an anticancer drug used to treat types of lung cancer. Osimertinib binds tightly to a protein, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is overexpressed in many tumours. EGFR is involved in a pathway that signals for cell proliferation, and so is a target for drugs. Blocking the action of EGFR (inhibiting it) can switch it off, and so is a good way to treat the disease.

Cancer-Fighting Nanorobots Programmed to Seek and Destroy Tumors

In a major advancement in nanomedicine, Arizona State University (ASU) scientists, in collaboration with researchers from the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST), of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have successfully programmed nanorobots to shrink tumors by cutting off their blood supply.

Biosensors Will Be Inexpensive, Do More, Go Everywhere

When it comes to biometric sensors, human skin isn't an ally. It's an obstacle. The University of Cincinnati is developing cutting-edge methods to overcome this barrier without compromising the skin and its ability to prevent infection and dehydration. By making better noninvasive tests, researchers can open up enormous opportunities in medicine and the fitness industry.

The Benefits of Social Media for Young People in Care

Young people in care benefit from the psychological, emotional and social support gained via social media networks - according to new research from the University of East Anglia's Centre for Research on the Child and Family (CRCF). Until now, the automatic assumption has been that platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp only pose a risk for this vulnerable group.

Using Virtual Reality to Identify Brain Areas Involved in Memory

Virtual reality is helping neuroscientists at the University of California, Davis, get new insight into how different brain areas assemble memories in context. In a study published Jan. 18 in the journal Nature Communications, graduate student Halle Dimsdale-Zucker and colleagues used a virtual reality environment to train subjects, then showed that different areas of the hippocampus are activated for different types of memories.

People with Tetraplegia Gain Rapid Use of Brain-Computer Interface

For a brain-computer interface (BCI) to be truly useful for a person with tetraplegia, it should be ready whenever it's needed, with minimal expert intervention, including the very first time it's used. In a new study in the Journal of Neural Engineering, researchers in the BrainGate collaboration demonstrate new techniques that allowed three participants to achieve peak BCI performance within three minutes of engaging in an easy, one-step process.

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