#BPOD

[toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account]

welcome to toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account where instead of saying anything even remotely related to witcher I liveblog my nearly 5 am breakdown over finding the fuck out that Willem Defoe played gill in finding Nemo while I wait for the coffee my dumb ass drank at 1 am to wear off

[bogleech]

lol look at this new baby tapeworm

[bpod-bpod]

Gut Move

Introducing helpful drugs into the body is often challenged by our own defences. Probiotics, beneficial microbes that can help to adjust the balance of our gut microbiome, may not stay around long enough to do their job as they’re quickly corroded by stomach acids and bile. Here, scientists develop structures capable of delivering probiotics orally – but with a new trick. These tiny scaffolds, about the half the size of a polo mint, are 3D-printed from a ‘bio-ink’ of cellulose, a form of dietary fibre. Fibre has many health benefits on its own, but it’s also resistant to damage from stomach acid. Instead, these tiny containers stick to the walls of the gut while they’re slowly digested. As they can be printed in a variety of shapes suited to different applications, they may be just the thing to tackle conditions like obesity or inflammatory bowel disease.

Written by John Ankers

Image from work by Yue Zhang and colleagues

Laboratory for Biomaterial and Immunoengineering, Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Published in Science Advances, August 2024

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[blackbird-brewster]

First and Last Selfies of 2023

I could write a whole thing about 2023, but at this point of my life, I've realised all years have their ups and downs. Sometimes, the downs feel more prominent, more frequent, but even then, there are still always ups.

My partner and I end every day by telling each other our BPOD (best part of the day) and B-Pride (proudest moment of the day) and nothing is too small to qualify.

What I'm saying is, no matter how rough parts of 2023 felt, I still had a best part of each and every single day and to me, that's a win.

Here's to more BPODs in 2024 🥂

[ib2se]

Konungens Skogslönn 🌳Alingsås 375 år 🇸🇪

[ https://ib2.se/bpod/nol375.htm ]

[john-richard-wood]

BPOD-CONTAINERS 1

[blackbird-brewster]

Always look for pockets of joy! This has become an important concept in my relationship. My partner and I often get overwhelmed with the weight of the world around us. I've been in isolation since March 2020, because I'm at way too high a risk to be running around during a pandemic. When things seem too bleak, we challenge ourselves to create pockets of joy. One of our favourite exercises is 'Name something Good'. Nothing is too small or too big. Some days all we can name are macro ideas. and that's okay. Some days all we can say is 'dogs exist', 'and cats', and 'pizza'. Nothing is off limits. It's just a way to get our brains to think about the things we love. Every night before we go to bed, we share our BPOD (best part of the day). Again, nothing is too small or too big. But this makes us think about the joy in our lives every day.

I know this timeline is heavy and awful and terrifying. But try and carve out some time to think of all the little things that keep you going. It might help.

not to be rude but some of y'all need to look on the bright side sometimes. like, yeah sure the world is fucked and people suck and we all die whatever, sure, but like. go outside.

[bellasoprano1972]

Love this kid so much!!! So proud of him and all he’s done! #adoptedson #BPOD (at Scheumann Stadium) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2GCLjThVHcpXKHQcdhc92rDELNNy15BcrOtxQ0/?igshid=aaok2pc5h04o

[r2ruen]

@alderique 

They’re just really comfortable, okay.

[alphabronco]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewLLVtQVcYI)

[bpod-bpod]

Lingering Effects

Red blood cell flow at forks in microvessels where they may be impeded and linger, and how that relates to the proportion of red cells in circulation before and after the bifurcation. Modelling in a microfluidic device reveals the details of microcirculation

Read the published research article here

Video from work by Aurelia Bucciarelli and colleagues

ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Biophysical Journal, October 2024

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[bpod-bpod]

Mutations at Heart

Filamin C protein is key for maintaining the internal structure of both heart and skeletal muscle cells. This study reveals mutations in the filamin C gene and their molecular effects underlying cardiomyopathies

Read the published research article here

Image from work by ES Klimenko and colleagues

Almazov National Medical Research Centre, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Cytoskeleton, September 2024

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[bpod-bpod]

Growing Nervous

Regeneration after damage of the central nervous system is limited. This study finds that suppressing activity of a gene called Lipin1 leads to significant regrowth of sensory and motor nerve axons (the signal-transmitting projections) after spinal cord injury

Read the published research article here

Video from work by Weitao Chen, Junqiang Wu and Chao Yang, and colleagues

Biomedical Research Institute, Shenzhen Peking University–The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Medical Center, Shenzhen, China

Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), September 2024

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[bpod-bpod]

Can't Beat Betas

β-cells of the pancreas produce insulin that regulates levels of blood glucose and malfunction of these cells causes diabetes; the pancreas also contains other non-β-cells (called α-, δ- and γ-cells). In this study a mouse model lacking non-β-cells shows that β-cells alone are sufficient for maintaining normal blood glucose levels, meaning therapies for diabetes may be less concerned with inclusion of other cell types

Read the published research article here

Image from work by Marta Perez-Frances and colleagues

Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, iGE3 and Centre facultaire du diabète, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Published in Nature Metabolism, August 2024

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[bpod-bpod]

Heart, Shaped

Ever wondered how your heart takes shape? Mechanical forces have a role to play, specifically, blood flow caused by the developing heart continuously beating. Researchers investigated the mechanisms behind this in developing zebrafish treated with a drug that stopped blood flow through the heart. Checking for differences in gene activity between treated and untreated zebrafish embryos, they found that the gene id2b was sensitive to blood flow. Genetically engineering zebrafish embryos with id2b tagged with green fluorescence revealed its location (pictured, green) in adults in the innermost layer of the heart (endocardium). Zebrafish embryos with faulty idb2 developed abnormal hearts and died early. These mutants had impaired heart contractions and faulty heart valves, causing blood to flow backwards. They also had disrupted cell signals in the middle layer of the heart (myocardium). idb2, therefore, shapes hearts through its role in the developing heart layers.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Image from work by Shuo Chen and colleagues

Center for Genetic Medicine, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in eLife (reviewed preprint), September 2024

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[bpod-bpod]

Lead the Follower

Computer modelling collective cell migration – such as occurs in wound healing, embryo development and cancer invasion – reveals the contributions to the speed of migration made by characteristics of the cells of the leader and follower rows

Read the published research article here

Video from work by Tien Comlekoglu and colleagues

Department of Cell Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Biology Open, September 2024

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