We came across an oddity this week that our spacecraft has rarely observed before: a dark filament encircling an active region (Oct. 29-31, 2017). Solar filaments are clouds of charged particles that float above the sun, tethered to it by magnetic forces.
They are usually elongated and uneven strands. Only a handful of times before have we seen one shaped like a circle. (The black area to the left of the brighter active region is a coronal hole, a magnetically open region of the sun).
Credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory, NASA.https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/potw/item/854
Researchers have found the first direct evidence that autoimmunity — in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues — plays a role in Parkinson’s disease, the neurodegenerative movement disorder. The findings raise the possibility that the death of neurons in Parkinson’s could be prevented by therapies that dampen the immune response.
The study, led by scientists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, was published in Nature.
“The idea that a malfunctioning immune system contributes to Parkinson’s dates back almost 100 years,” said study co-leader David Sulzer, PhD, professor of neurobiology (in psychiatry, neurology, and pharmacology) at CUMC. “But until now, no one has been able to connect the dots. Our findings show that two fragments of alpha-synuclein, a protein that accumulates in the brain cells of people with Parkinson’s, can activate the T cells involved in autoimmune attacks.
“It remains to be seen whether the immune response to alpha-synuclein is an initial cause of Parkinson’s or if it contributes to neuronal death and worsening symptoms after the onset of the disease,” said study co-leader Alessandro Sette, Dr. Biol. Sci., professor in the Center for Infectious Disease at La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology in La Jolla, Calif. “These findings, however, could provide a much-needed diagnostic test for Parkinson’s disease and could help us to identify individuals at risk or in the early stages of the disease.”
Source and further reading:http://newsroom.cumc.columbia.edu/blog/2017/06/21/parkinsons-is-partly-an-autoimmune-disease-study-finds/
Journal article:http://www.nature.com/articles/nature22815
Source: Corina Marinescu
Hyphema is the term for a collection of blood inside the front part of the eye. This happens between the cornea (the clear covering of the eye) and the iris (the colored part of the eye). The blood may cover part or all of the iris and the pupil (the round, dark circle in the middle of your eye). If you have a hyphema, your vision might be partly or totally blocked in that eye.
A hyphema usually happens when an injury causes a tear to the iris or pupil of the eye. Sometimes people mistake a broken blood vessel in the front of the eye for a hyphema. A broken blood vessel in the eye is a common, harmless condition called subconjunctival hemorrhage. A subconjunctival hemorrhage does not hurt. A hyphema, though, is usually painful. A hyphema must be treated properly or it can cause permanent vision problems.
Get informed:http://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=blood-in-the-eye-hyphema-90-P02825
https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/hyphema-symptoms
Source: Corina Marinescu
