Contents
04 May 2016
Vol 8, Issue 337
Vol 8, Issue 337
Contents
Research Articles
- Development of a bile acid–based newborn screen for Niemann-Pick disease type C
A newborn screen for Niemann-Pick disease type C was developed on the basis of discovery of a bile acid marker.
- Supervised autonomous robotic soft tissue surgery
Supervised autonomous in vivo robotic surgery is possible on soft tissues and outperforms standard clinical techniques in a dynamic preclinical environment.
- Combinatorial targeting of TSLP, IL-25, and IL-33 in type 2 cytokine–driven inflammation and fibrosis
Combined blockade of TSLP, IL-25, and IL-33 may be needed to treat some forms of progressive inflammation and fibrosis.
Review
- Beyond the brain: Optogenetic control in the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system
This Review discusses the use of optogenetics in the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system, distills the key results achieved thus far, and discusses the translational potential.
Editors' Choice
- Sex (steroids) is in the AIRE
Male and female hormones regulate autoimmunity by controlling T cell tolerance mechanisms.
- Microbes make the cancer
Changes in gut microbiota can promote intestinal tumor development by activating the epithelial calcineurin-NFAT pathway.
- Extra! Extra! Microfluidic chips go to print
Roll-to-roll manufacturing and inertial focusing principles are combined to achieve scalable yet low-cost microfluidic chips for cellular analyses.
- New neural measures signal autism
Function of a social perception circuit was successfully quantified and replicated in males with autism.
About The Cover
ONLINE COVER Hands-Free. The promise of going "hands-free" and allowing a robot to do all the work has eluded soft-tissue surgeries, such as in cardiovascular or gastrointestinal procedures, because the tissue is deformable. In this issue, Shademan and colleagues describe the design and operation of a robot that only requires surgeon supervision for soft-tissue surgery. The "smart tissue autonomous robot", or STAR, comes equipped with sophisticated imaging and surgical tools that together help the 'bot navigate the tissue and adapt to any movement. STAR was tested against other surgical techniques by expert surgeons for intestinal anastomoses in pigs. [CREDIT: SHEIKH ZAYED INSTITUTE, CHILDREN'S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER]