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Retinal photographs can help predict Alzheimer’s disease risk factors

Often called “the window to the soul,” the eyes may also offer clues about something less poetic but just as important: the health of the brain. A new study of tens of thousands of patients has revealed that cheap, simple and common photographs of the retina at the back of the eye can accurately predict many of the most common risk factors associated with developing Alzheimer’s disease.

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AI-guided ultrasound improves blood–brain barrier opening procedures by predicting bubble collapse

A study led by Georgia Institute of Technology’s Associate Professor Costas Arvanitis takes a major step toward safer and more effective treatment and diagnosis of brain diseases. His team’s research, published in Advanced Science, shows how combining artificial intelligence (AI) with focused ultrasound can safely deliver therapies and improve diagnostic interventions to the brain.

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Light switch wakes lung cancer cells up from a protective dormant state

Tumor cells can lapse into a sleep-like state and thereby evade the destructive effect of cancer drugs. In some types of the disease, such as certain forms of lung cancer, this state is triggered by stress hormones in the body. Inside the cancer cells, glucocorticoid receptors recognize the hormones, and the cells respond by lapsing into a state in which they undergo barely any division. This renders many treatments ineffective.

Scientists are attempting to switch off these receptors with a view to waking the cancer cells up from sleep—making them vulnerable to attack.

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